Blog Post #33

Clearly women have made large advancements in the profession of law since the 1960s when they entered the field. When they first came they were welcomed with severe hostility and resentment. Because of this they worked hard to blend in. They dressed similar to make partners, and keep their feminine personality traits under wraps. Eventually, they were allowed to dress more feminine, and were not expected to look so serious and manly all the time. After they could dress how they pleased they started to use their sexuality to their advantage. They were able to use their attractiveness to close deals and build relationships. Now, at least for outside, it looks as though women are nearly equal in the legal profession.

While it is true they have made leaps and bound they are not even close to being equal. Women are very under-represented in the upper-levels of law firms. According to an article from the National Association of Women Lawyers, there is a large gap between the amount of low level female workers and the amount of women promoted to partner or higher positions. Only 6% of firms have women in the highest leadership positions. Women are being promoted to equity partner at a greater rate than the past but they are still only being promoted at about half the rate as men. Also, male attorneys still make far more money than female attorneys – approximately $87,000 more per year. Another problem that women do have to deal with is that there still isn’t much room for them to starts families like there is for men. We have law in place that support them starting families but it still harder for them to balance work and home responsibilities because of the hostility of co-workers (as discussed in the previous blog).