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A NATIONAL survey has exposed the high attrition rate of women in the legal profession, presenting a serious challenge for firms in the future.
The Law Council of Australia has released the findings of its National Attrition and Re-engagement Study (NARS) report exposing a startling picture of gender imbalance.
The research was conducted via surveys and interviews across 4000 Australian legal professionals over a period of 10 months.
Half of all women reported experiencing discrimination due to their gender, compared with one in 10 men, and approximately one in four had been discriminated against due to family or carer responsibilities.
But not all of the bullying and discrimination was at the hands of men. A number of participants reported bullying and intimidation were perpetrated by some senior women in the profession.
Over one in three women were considering moving to a new job within the next five years. Females in private practice were most likely to be considering taking up an in-house role.
However, women valued flexible working conditions and career progression more highly than men as motivating factors.
While mentoring and career development opportunities may be available, these are not generally seen to be adequate or appropriate for women lawyers.
Specialist legal recruiter Alex Correa says it is essential the legal profession addresses rates of female attrition.
“My experience has been that the high representation of female graduates means legal firms too invest heavily in building their female talent.
“Senior associates working towards partnerships in law firms quickly realise that it is a hard road to balance along with their personal lives.
She says while some of the responsibility for this must be put on societal pressures, the issue presents a real challenge for the profession.
“Although there are now a growing number of law firms recognising the importance of this issue, many will no doubt agree we still have quite a way to go.
The study highlights a number of areas where strategies need to be developed, including how to better promote the drivers of retention and stamp out negative practices within the profession.
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