A Gazette survey has highlighted the extent to which women solicitors feel unable to progress within the profession.

The research also shows that a significant percentage of women believe they have personally been discriminated against during their legal career.

The survey, completed by 244 lawyers, including 192 women, showed that 64% of women felt their gender had put them at a disadvantage during their career, compared to just 19% of men.

Some 70% of female partners in private practice and 71% of women lawyers in commerce and industry believed being a woman had disadvantaged them.

Asked whether they had ever been discriminated against personally, 34% of women said yes, rising to 43% for women partners and 42% for female associates and assistants. Only 17% of male lawyers said they had experienced discrimination.

Women lawyers gave examples of ‘blatant’ discrimination – earning a lower salary than less experienced male colleagues; being made redundant while on maternity leave; being told in an appraisal that women at the firm were expected to work harder than men to succeed – and also more subtle forms.

One female solicitor said a male colleague with equivalent experience was routinely allocated ‘the larger and more complex cases’, making it easier for him not only to meet targets, but also to gain the experience needed to progress.

Others cited the difficulty of infiltrating the ‘boys’ club’ and attending male-oriented networking events.

A quarter of male respondents said they had witnessed some form of discrimination by their employer, compared to 41% of women.

However, many of the women lawyers who responded to the survey suggested that where women were disadvantaged, this largely stemmed from an assumption that present or future family commitments would prevent them from working long hours, rather than a bias against women per se.

Respondents also said there was a lack of support for working mothers within the profession.

One former woman partner, now working in-house, said: ‘More flexible working is needed – the scheme [at a magic circle firm where I was a partner] offering an occasional fortnight to partners was ludicrous.

'As an employment lawyer, I have to advise on flexible working and maternity rights, only to see them flouted in law firms and companies all the time.’

Overall, 74% of women, but only 19% of men, said they believed a ‘glass ceiling’ exists for women in the profession.

One female solicitor said: ‘There is definitely a glass ceiling in private practice, evidenced in the gender gap at partner level. If exactly the same benefits were extended by firms to men as to women in respect of parenthood, I think we'd start to see this change pretty quickly.

Law Society president Linda Lee said the Society had undertaken research with the Association of Women Solicitors to identify the barriers faced by women in the profession.

She said work was now in hand to develop practical support for women and their employers to remove those obstacles to progression.

Lee said the Society’s diversity and inclusion charter also sought to encourage best equality practice within firms.

Joy Van-Cooten, chair of the Association of Women Solicitors, who recently claimed this is a crucial year to tackle inequality, said that it was ‘unacceptable’ for law firms not to offer flexible working patterns to working mothers and that firms risked losing valuable talent as a result.