4 minute read
Foreword
Introduction
Foreword
NOVEMBER 2022
The centenary of women’s admission to the legal profession is undoubtedly a milestone. The more I learn about their lives and the challenges they faced, the more awe-inspiring they are as role models. I was struck by the difficulty in obtaining images of these legal pioneers; completely unlike their male peers who were not only photographed but frequently captured in oil paintings. This element of invisibility, moving quietly in the background so as not to disturb the status quo, is our cultural norm. It means even the highest-achieving women can be quickly forgotten; such are the choices still made in terms of what is kept for posterity.
Young girls are still often held to different standards from young boys; behaving pleasantly without disrupting others is highly valued as a female attribute. This feeds through to working patterns, for example, worrying about being too challenging or asking for salary rises. We are all familiar with the double standards that are often exercised where a man’s confident behaviour would be considered pushy in a woman; or a woman being angry is construed as a ‘rant’. Julia Gillard, a former Prime Minister of Australia and now Chair of Global Women in Leadership at King’s College London, reflects on this with the ten-year anniversary of her ‘Not Now, Not Ever’ speech. Men have licence to vent anger politically, but this speech stood out around the world because it was a woman comfortable and eloquent in her anger. If you don’t know the speech you can find it here: Julia Gillard misogyny speech voted most unforgettable Australian TV moment: watch in full – YouTube.
Cultural change requires embedding at a very early stage, and I applaud the fantastic work of End Sexism in Schools www.endsexisminschools.org.uk from campaigning on gender equality in sports, to ensuring that the school curriculum reflects the real demographic of society, so that History includes significant females as much as males; to highlighting the biased nature of the reading curriculum.
Workplaces more than ever, need to find approaches to redress the balance. The current recruitment crisis could be answered in no time if all the women who have left the work force were given the right opportunities and conditions. One approach to inclusivity is acknowledging difference and providing affinity groups and mentors for any group, not within the perceived mainstream for that job. The results can be life-changing. This issue looks at these experiences.
Although women have always worked, today, we are amongst the first to be pursuing careers throughout our professional lives and we’ve gained much ground, but it is still new territory. How are businesses going to ensure the baton is passed on? The latest Law Society report shows a startling low number of female partners. What do these businesses offer to attract more women? The consultants, Accenture, report that there is often a disconnect between what women wanted and what they got. They wanted to feel valued and to have control over where and when they worked. This was rated far more highly than the conventional rewards for senior staff of the big office with a view. Mothers often leave the workforce, but Accenture found that the overwhelming majority would prefer to continue working, if there were no obstacles. A workplace which works for individuals also reaps the rewards in terms of productivity.
Equality at law is often assumed to mean everything is solved for women. That just isn’t the case. So, it is vital to support each other to ensure change. A key part of this is joining an affinity group either in your workplace or elsewhere. ■
Angela Davis
Coral Hill
Coral Hill
Founder & Editor-in-Chief
