Empowering Women in Law: Overcoming Gender Bias and Shaping the Future

In the fall of 2019, the American Bar Association (ABA) released a study that revealed how differently male and female lawyers see women’s advancement in the legal profession.

Across 1,200 senior lawyers at top law firms, 88% of men thought their law firms treated women fairly. In contrast, only 54% of women lawyers agreed.

The study, titled “Walking Out the Door,” also found that nearly 3 out of 4 male lawyers said their law firms retained women lawyers, while only 47% of women agreed.

In law schools, the number of women students has surpassed that of men. In 2021, there were 12,800 more women enrolled in law school than men, marking a significant shift from previous years.

According to an ABA profile of the legal profession, only 4% of first-year law students were female in 1963. This percentage slowly rose to 20% in 1973, 39% in 1983, and 44% by 1993.

While more than 50% of law school graduates are women, men outnumber women in the legal profession at all levels due to historic inequities in the field. The ABA reports that only 3% of lawyers 1950 to 1970 identified as women. In 1980 this percentage increased to 8%, then to 20% in 1991. By 2000, only 29% of attorneys were women. In 2022, another ABA survey discovered that only 38% of all lawyers identified as women.

Even today, in 2023, less than half of women in law work in leadership roles, with only 20% of equity partners identifying as women.

Women in law face significant barriers that include bias, lack of inclusion in leadership, and gender-based discrimination and harassment. This includes sexual assault and violence.

According to ABA Journal, only 58% of women lawyers surveyed said they’d recommend a legal career for their daughters. The biggest reason they cited is the sexism of the profession — similar to the sexism their mothers experienced in the 1980s.

This sexism includes things like men preferring to hire and promote other men, men talking over women in meetings, and women who talk over men being perceived as aggressive or nagging. It also includes sexual harassment in the workplace.

In addition to the attitudes and barriers only women face in law, other issues reveal that the system favors men. Law firms have been slow to build solutions catering to the biological and societal duties that women employees often have to take on, such as childbearing and caretaking. Over 80% of the women lawyers surveyed by the ABA Journal in 2023 cited work-life balance as the most convincing reason to leave their Big Law firm.

Additionally, the higher the level within the profession, the lower the percentage of women employees. While women make up 47% of all law associates, they only represent 30% of non-equity partners and 20% of equity partners, reports a 2019 NAWL survey. The gender demographics of judgeship are almost equal, but women comprise only 30% of federal judges.

While becoming a leader in law is particularly difficult for women, women who are able to cross this barrier can consider making policy changes in the organizational culture to advocate for gender diversity and equity. If you work for a law firm that does not support women, consider making a move.

If you’re a new lawyer looking for work, do your homework before signing on with a law firm. Do they have women partners? Are they able to retain their women employees? If not, consider applying to a different firm. Check LinkedIn and Glassdoor to read about the firm culture before inking the contract.

You don’t need a leadership position to empower others. You can empower yourself and other women in law by seeking out mentoring relationships, whether you aspire to become a mentee, mentor, or both. Mentorship connects women within the field, providing valuable guidance and access to professional development opportunities.

There are many ways to promote inclusivity and gender equality. You can advocate for equal pay, inclusive hiring practices, child care assistance and flexible schedules, whether online, at events, or in your own law firm. You can also contribute to policies that address workplace discrimination, like preventing gender bias and sexual assault.

Prioritizing work-life integration allows you to avoid burnout and maintain both your physical and mental health. Consider strategies like these:

Maintaining a balance will help you maintain the energy to excel.

By actively embracing the power of collaboration and engaging in teamwork, you can enhance your legal knowledge and skills while building a strong professional network. Actively engage in teamwork when possible, seeking collaboration opportunities while supporting your peers. This way, you can create a sense of community, belonging, and collective empowerment.

Collective empowerment requires giving — so pay it forward! Consider taking a colleague out to lunch to learn how you can help them navigate their challenges and dismantle barriers. You can also freely support and uplift women colleagues by offering guidance and sharing networking, mentorship, and other professional development opportunities.