Women in the legal profession do not believe they will see gender pay equality, according to a new survey – and fresh analysis of available law firm data suggests they could be right.
The Next 100 Years, a project dedicated to supporting women in law, and Gapsquare, which specialises in pay equity and wage analytics, surveyed more than 250 professionals, reviewed research published by organisations such as the Law Society, and analysed gender pay gaps from the 127 firms required to submit them under law.
According to their report, 84% of women believed pay equality would not be achieved until the next generation or beyond. Analysis of gender pay gap reports suggests it will take 86 years to close the mean gap and 40.6 years to close the median gap.
The median average has stayed almost the same since 2017 – at around 26% - and remains higher than the mean because, on average, women are overrepresented in the lower two pay quartiles and underrepresented in the upper two pay quartiles. ‘If this trend continues, the gender pay gap in the legal profession will never close,’ the report warns.
Most respondents are concerned about the gender pay gap but a third do not believe it is a priority for senior management.
One associate said she was paid less than the male solicitors qualifying at the same time because she was told she was qualifying into a different practice area despite having the same target.
Another said women were being allocated work in areas of law that are traditionally lower paid than others.
One associate raised an equal pay dispute after discovering that a less qualified and experienced male colleague was earning £17,500 more than her.
The report recommends making pay grades and career paths more transparent and providing a more balanced distribution of work.
Discussing the findings at a panel event, former Law Society president Christina Blacklaws said gender pay gap reporting has led to a much greater focus on pay issues through a gender lens. ‘However, there is much less evidence that this has led to a significant shift in equality of remuneration.’
As Society president, Blacklaws led a major programme of work to promote gender equality. She recalled a roundtable in the US where lawyers told her they would never question why they were being paid less ‘let alone share that information or ask someone else. It is such a taboo culturally to do that’.
Blacklaws suggested greater hybrid working in a post-pandemic world could increase transparency. ‘I speculate whether in an online and anonymised world people might be more willing to share information as opposed to standing around the watercooler to do that’.
Bola Gibson, head of inclusion and corporate responsibility at Osborne Clarke, told the event her firm uses gender pay gap reporting to educate staff ‘and use it as a launchpad to find out why that number is the way it is’.
