Quotas and targets do little to actually help women reach leadership positions

I was delighted to be named Scotland’s Lawyer of the Year and wanted to win for the women coming behind me and to show working mums, or those considering having children, that you don’t have to take a step back in your career after having kids if you don’t want to.

In Scotland, it is estimated that fewer than 30% of partners are women and fewer than 30% of solicitor advocates are women. In a profession where 53% of solicitors are women – 68% at junior levels – this inversion at the most senior levels is a matter of concern.

Meanwhile a 2020 report by Engender, Scotland’s feminist policy and advocacy organisation, reported the number of women working in the judiciary in Scotland has decreased.

We need to look how we appoint to the judiciary so it is more inclusive and there is a greater pool of candidates. Solicitors tend to go on to become Sheriffs and Advocates tend to go on to become Court of Session judges.

We need to actively encourage female solicitors, academics and in-house counsel to apply for judicial appointments. There is so much female talent in Scotland. None of this requires positive discrimination or quotas, although there are reserved seats on the Supreme Court for judges from Scotland and Northern Ireland, and a balance is maintained between chancery, common law, and criminal law experience.

All of this is as true of racial diversity, LGBT and disabled people’s inclusion as it is of gender. Many firms have targets about getting more women into leadership, but I would ask firms to look at what they are doing to help women get there.

Women are more likely to undersell themselves for promotion. Women are less likely to ask for pay rises or promotions. Women also tend to take on the bulk of the childcare and household responsibilities, irrespective of whether they are the breadwinner.

Women also tend to do more activities relating to Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental, Social and Corporate governance, mentoring and pro-bono activities. These businesscritical activities are exceptionally valuable and important to a company, but next to impossible to measure on a spreadsheet.

These factors may help explain the gender pay gap, with female lawyers earning 77p for every £1 male colleagues earn.

Statistics provided to me by financial planning and investment firm Tilney state that one in seven women in their early 40s are caring for children, and nearly a third of women in their late 50s are caring for an elderly relative – impacting their ability to earn and save for a pension. 61% of mothers who return to work after children opt for part-time, earning 30% less than women who work fulltime. However, I query if some of those women would prefer not to work part-time, but the cost of childcare in the UK offers them little or no alternative.

I would encourage law firms, and indeed all businesses, to look at how they measure performance and reward.

I am passionate about diversity and inclusion because it is so important that my profession is representative of the

society it serves. And it is important for the integrity of the judicial system that it properly reflects the society it serves.