The proportion of female associates made up to partner level this year at the top 30 UK firms has risen slightly – from 25 per cent of new partners in 2008 to 27 per cent.
“We decide on merit and timing. We’ve always promoted women and so we don’t have a backlog or need to tick any boxes – we don’t get hung up on that issue. There’s a wider diversity issue now – people are raising other questions.”
But Dixon argued that the disparity between the number of women entering the profession and those becoming partner was in-dicative of a “professional rather than gender problem”.
“People wanting to workflexibly is the reason some men and women are deselecting. If 60 per cent of those coming into the profession are women but only 30 per cent of partners are women then there’s a time-bomb waiting to happen. But as per usual, solicitors are looking at their belly-buttons [rather than dealing with this],” she said.
Promotions: ups and downs
On the up
Firms promoting a greater proportion of women this year than last
Allen & Overy
Beachcroft
BLP
Bird & Bird
Clyde & Co
Camerons
Eversheds
Freshfields
Hammonds
Herbert Smith
Norton Rose
Olswang
Shoosmiths
Going down
Firms promoting a smaller proportion of women this year than last
Addleshaws
Ashurst
Dentons
Linklaters
Lovells
Nabarro
Pinsent Masons
SJ Berwin
Wragge & Co
A more interesting statistic would be the proportion of female v male solicitors who achieved partnership AFTER having children. Women in corporate and finance practices in the City who dared to become a mother in their early 30s and subsequently went on to make partnership are a much smaller minority than 27%. Even if senior female associates do not take 6 months+ maternity leave and continue to work full time, they face an uphill battle to convince firms that they maintain their commitment and ambition despite parenthood. On the other hand, many men have become fathers before they achieve partnership and the financial pressure they face to support their children (and often their wife) is almost regarded as a positive when evaluating their commitment and ambition. Female partnership figures will not substantially improve in the City until these perception issues are overcome.