UK female lawyers unhappy over work/life balance
Wed 07 April 2010
, Leap, LEAP
Some 42 percent of female solicitors enjoy their work, but they are unhappy with the working arrangements and opportunities for promotion, a survey conducted by King's College London shows.
The survey, conducted by King's College London, reveals almost half of female lawyers in the UK believe the main measure of career success is advancement to partnership. Women lawyers in England and Wales were surveyed on their attitudes towards work-life balance and flexible working arrangements in the survey, which questioned 800 female solicitors.
Less serious
Half of the female lawyers said they worked too many hours a week and that, in order to progress in their career, they were expected to work long hours. They believe lawyers working flexibly were viewed as less serious about their careers, and 44% claime it had a negative impact on lawyers' promotion prospects.
Almost half (46 per cent) of those surveyed said they believed lawyers in their workplaces had to consistently put work before their families or personal lives.
‘Open to all’
"What is clear is that as a profession we still have some way to go to ensuring that aspirations are met. Firms need to develop their business structures and adopt clear career paths and promotion opportunities that are genuinely open to all," Dr Clare McConnell, chairwoman of the Association of Women Solicitors (AWS), which is the national network that promotes the female solicitors' potential and success, told Legalweek.com.
PrintComments (1)
Yvonne Berg van den
Fri 30 Apr 2010 14:23:51
At Philips I also think we have to go some way with regard to this topic. We recently launched a new workshop called 'The Working Parent(s) Program', which specially targets employees under the age of 45 who need to combine work with the care of young children. Mail goal is that participants can talk about their own experiences and listen to those of others in a so-called affinity group. With this initiative we also want to lift the taboo of talking openly about the problems that people face when balancing work and home commitments.
