Nearly half (46%) say they or their colleague have not complained about discrimination at work because they fear the impact on their career, according to a survey of 700 women conducted by the First 100 Years project.
A mere 2% think there is true equality in the legal profession. 80% predict it will take 20 years or more to achieve equality, and nearly a third (32%) consider that, at the current rate of progress, it will take 100 years.
One law firm associate says: ‘Women in my workplace are routinely discriminated against, harassed and then forced into silence if they complain.
‘Diversity and “women’s initiatives” are PR orientated―my firm is a supposed leader in these areas on paper, but it is a completely different story in practice.’
A partner in an all-male partnership says: ‘Some within the partnership hinted that I was only offered the role because they needed to have a female partner.’
Some 52% agree it is easier for men to achieve a promotion than it is for women. Less than half think women are fairly represented in the senior management of their organisation.
Respondents also highlight a failure to accommodate family life: a lack of flexible working has led 28% to consider leaving their job, while 39% say their working hours are incompatible with family life, and 60% believe working part-time would hamper their prospects. A barrister says working at the Bar ‘has become a profession that only the independently wealthy or those with a rich spouse can stay in after having children’.
On a more positive note, 54% receive encouragement from senior women at work. A respondent described her chambers as ‘extraordinarily supportive’ while a solicitor said she was supported to partnership while working part-time.
Dana Denis-Smith, founder of The First 100 Years, said: ‘Progress is proving stubbornly slow and what is needed is more women at the top. Quotas are necessary. Self-regulation doesn’t work and will only take us so far.’
