Opinion: A promise of parity

Lauren Stiller Rikleen offers insight into the manifesto that promises to galvanise the legal profession into action.

It is hard to believe that, two decades after women started graduating from law schools in nearly equal numbers to their male counterparts, we are still talking about the lack of gender parity in the legal professional. But the statistics continue to tell the story, and it is not an encouraging one.
Much has been written about the institutional impediments that have affected women’s careers, but little has changed. Women comprise nearly 60 per cent of the population of undergraduate colleges and universities. Nearly half of those graduating from law school are women. Even as the pipeline of capable and talented women has been filled since before the turn of the millennium, women continue to make only marginal gains in positions of leadership. By any analysis – whether looking at general counsel positions or the percentage of equity partners in major law firms – the numbers seldom break the 20 per cent mark, and more often hover around 15 per cent or less.
For women of colour, the percentages are even bleaker. Women lawyers of colour comprise less than two per cent of partners in law firms, a shockingly disproportionate percentage.
Among these discouraging statistics, however, there is reason for optimism. With increasing frequency, women are stepping forward and taking action, and the results seem destined to create a better profession for all.
An example of this activism occurred recently in Austin, Texas, where the Center for Women in Law at the University of Texas School of Law convened a gathering of leading women lawyers from around the country to attend a ‘women’s power summit’ on law and leadership. For two and a half days, women leaders in the profession addressed such critical issues as the current economic climate, strategies for advancement, and related perspectives on how our profession can eliminate the barriers that have impeded the advancement of women.
Importantly, participants also recognised that elimination of these barriers can be a force for positive change in the lives of both women and men. As former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor stated in her keynote address: “Traditional gender roles deny men a greater role in their family lives.” Justice O’Connor noted that, as women assume greater opportunities in the workplace, it will allow the roles of both genders to evolve at home and at work.
The result was the ‘Austin manifesto on women in law’. If implemented, it will level the playing field. The manifesto’s principles state that there is a deep talent pool of female lawyers ready to take on leadership roles and that diversity results in multiple perspectives and viewpoints, adding value to the decision-making process for both clients and our workplaces.
The manifesto seeks transparency in the ways in which law firms articulate internal policies and related rules and expectations. Critically, the manifesto highlights the importance of ensuring that those in management positions be held accountable for enforcing policies that promote diversity, inclusion, and gender-neutral performance evaluations. In addition, it identifies the need for gender parity in compensation and advancement, even as it calls for restructuring of the law firm business model.
At the heart of the manifesto is a series of 12 pledges designed to ensure that the principles are implemented. For example, signatories pledge to identify specific and measurable goals and timetables to achieve no less than 30 per cent women equity partners, tenured law professors, and general counsel by the year 2015; and ten per cent equity partners who are women of colour by the year 2020. The pledge also includes a commitment to implement benchmarks for monitoring progress to ensure the implementation of the goals.
To foster a climate of mutual support, the manifesto includes a pledge by female leaders to support and advance the careers of other women through concrete actions such as mentoring, providing access to formal and informal networks, and referral opportunities. Further, it includes a commitment to support the hiring, retention, and advancement of women of colour in positions of leadership. Signatories also pledge to engage leaders in law firms, corporations, the judiciary, academia, and other sectors to become active participants in the advancement of women. Engaging such full participation is critical if true gender parity is to be achieved.
The Austin manifesto should serve as a galvanising force for our profession. It is also, most significantly, a promise to young men and women entering the profession today – one that recognises how lucky we are to have a role in the system of justice, and that justice requires a face of leadership reflective of our richly diverse world.

Lauren Stiller Rikleen is the executive director of the Bowditch Institute for Women’s Success, a partner at Bowditch & Dewey, LLP, and the author of Ending the Gauntlet: Removing Barriers to Women’s Success in the Law. She can be contacted at lrikleen@bowditch.com