The balance in the legal workplace is changing. For the first time since the profession admitted Maud Crofts, Carrie Morrison, Mary Pickup and Mary Sykes into its fold in 1922, women have surpassed men as the majority of practicing solicitors.
Last year there were 139,324 solicitors with Practicing Certificates (PC), which was an increase of 2.5% on the previous year and is generally in keeping with the rate of growth over the last decade. Of that figure, just over 50% of PC holders were women (they lead by about 366). During the same time, 62% of new admissions were women. It’s is predicted that by 2022, there will be 10,000 more female practicing solicitors than male.
Whilst these figures are good news for females in the industry, unfortunately they still only make up a meagre 33% of partners at firms. Add that to the fact that the average age of a female lawyer is 40 and males is 45, there are still more women than men dropping out of their legal career and not making it to a partner level.
It’s also been revealed that women are more predominant in certain areas of law such as in companies and in-house work of which women made up 25% and males only 18.5%. In the private practice and commercial fields, men were still the larger quantity.
This disparity is also reflected in the gender pay gap in which women are still earning, on average, 24% less pay than their male counterparts.
So, whilst we’ve come a long way from women not being allowed to practice law, there is still clearly some way to go to ensure both genders are treated fairly and given the same opportunities in their career as each other.
If you’re a female in the legal profession and want to know more about the Manchester legal landscape or looking for some advice on your next career move, please give us a call and talk to one of our recruiters today.
