A new age or behind the times?
After David Cameron doubled the number of women in his cabinet in the middle of July and the Church of England approved the appointment of female bishops, some are heralding this as 'the dawn of a new age for women'.
When I was appointed as role managing partner of my firm last year, I found myself the subject of much media interest, simply because I am one of very few women to have been delegated into that position in a north-east law firm.
I am always asked how I feel about being a woman in this role but I generally struggle to provide an answer as I’m not sure that my gender really
comes into it, I am just proud that I was chosen as the right person for the job.
The legal profession is still regarded as male-dominated and, when I attend legal events, women do seem to be represented in smaller numbers, although this is improving.
On only one occasion have I been asked: “Who is the man in charge of your firm?” I pointed out politely: “That’s me.”
However, despite that
one faux pas, I have never felt hindered in my career development by my gender. I believe that if you are honest, determined and work hard in your role then you have the
right to be successful.
We took a decision a few months ago to publish our diversity statistics on our website. This is a bold move for a law firm and I haven’t seen many other firms doing it.
Having revisited our statistics today, we are 92 per cent women, 8 per cent men. The figure did surprise me a little, particularly as we haven’t had an active policy like Cameron’s with an aim to have a high quota of women. Our mantra has always been that the best person for the role gets
the job.
So why do we have a high percentage of women? One answer is that we work really hard to be a flexible employer in terms of working hours. Being less rigid in our approach and more willing to think outside the 9-to-5 fixed day has enabled us to retain some really good staff who would otherwise have left us to care
for their children.
We have working hours around school runs, roles for experienced members of staff on fewer days that don’t involve owning a caseload and, for those on fewer days, we make sure that there is cover within their teams. To take our flexible approach further, we are now examining if we could facilitate home working.
For me, Cameron’s decision isn’t the dawn of a new age, but another step in a direction many of us have already started to
go down. SJ
Kathryn Taylor is the managing partner of Gordon Brown Law Firm