The New Women of Law

One of the most significant findings with respect to gender is earnings disparity. According to a NALP study, women earn an average of $14,000 less annually than men. With the exception of only two categories where the difference is quite small (private firms and nonprofit/education), men outearn women in every setting.

Shari Weintraub’s '97 first position as an attorney was anything but easy. She was the first female associate in a small firm, where she practiced for 10 years before leaving to join a larger firm with more opportunities. "I felt like I had a great background and was ahead of the associates at my level," says Weintraub. "But I wasn’t getting the same opportunities as men. My compensation wasn’t commensurate with my skill level, the assignments I was being given, or the quality of my client relations."

Weintraub says that while she learned a lot and got many interesting assignments, when it came down to it, she wasn't getting the respect. "I think I just came to the realization that if I wanted to actually grow and be appreciated for what I was doing, I needed to change jobs."

Experts studying the problem of female retention say women hit a glass ceiling, while some critics point to structural issues that make it more difficult for women to progress in the workplace.

"The work culture has not changed in spite of the growing number of women entering the workplace," says California Western Professor Jacquelyn Slotkin, who researches women’s issues related to advancement in the law. "Law firm culture has to change. The numbers of women graduating from law school does not reflect the numbers of women in law firms."

Certainly, women have made much progress in the past 30 years, but when you look at the percentage of females in the legal profession over the past decade, women have only made a gain of three points - from 37 percent in 1992 to 40 percent of legal professionals in 2002. In addition, on average, there are about 13 women partners at a typical U.S. law firm, compared with 63 white men who are partners, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). These are startling statistics considering women account for half of associates in law firms across the U.S.

Critics, like Slotkin, say firms have been reluctant or incapable of making organizational changes that would produce greater numbers of women lawyers. Slotkin believes one of the challenges is the generational gap between female lawyers. "Women of my generation were willing to give up everything in order to be partners in big firms," says Slotkin. "What I see happening with the newer generations is that they want more balance in life and they're finding that big firm practice means they can't have it all, so they find alternatives that give them the ability to do it all."