The Long Road to Gender Parity
What does it mean to be a woman?
International Women’s Day comes and goes each year. For some with no notice, for others with a few events and maybe some selfies. This year however, I thought it important to take some time to really focus on the importance of such a day and have a good, hard think about what it really means to be a woman in today’s world.
What defines a woman?
I pose this question to you: does the definition of a woman — an adult female human being (according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary[i]) — still ring true? Is it a state of mind, a physical state or a feeling? Is it our actions or words that make us women?
Taking that thought further — what does it mean to be a lawyer who is also a woman? We are living in an exciting time for women legal practitioners. We are getting closer than ever to gender parity and we now have the opportunity to effect change not only in our profession but also in the lives of other women and their journeys.
To illustrate the differences that have occurred over the years, I will draw comparisons with the modern day female solicitor with the first female solicitor in Queensland.
Barriers to entering the profession
The solicitor’s profession has always led the way for progressing women, starting with Agnes McWhinney’s admission as the first female solicitor in 1915. At the time of Agnes McWhinney’s admission, Chief Justice Pope Cooper was not impressed with the idea of a woman entering the legal profession, but was unable to fault her qualifications or conduct. These days there is no such objection to a woman entering our profession — in fact, we are seeing women overtaking men in our younger cohorts which sit at around 62% females for those with under 10 years post-admission experience.
Equal pay
In Agnes’ day, things were very different. Although Agnes undertook work of the same complexity and importance as that of her colleagues, she was paid the same as the unqualified office boy. Agnes did not stand for this and her persistent protests resulted in her wage rising to 3 pounds 10 shillings per week — this is around $300 in today’s market which is incredibly low for a qualified solicitor!
We have come a long way since 1915, however, as the first woman on the High Court Mary Gaudron so eloquently put it, “We got equal pay, we got it again and we still don’t have it.” In other words she was saying ‘two steps forward and one step backwards.’ In Australia, women have seen improvements towards equal pay since 1969, however, gender pay gaps are still reported in the legal profession today. In 2013–14, the Workplace Gender Equality Agency collated data showing a gender pay gap of 35.6% for full-time employees in Legal Services.[ii]
Family versus career
Agnes continued to practise as a solicitor with the firm until 1919 when she decided to marry. She then used her skills in community service. These days we often see the opposite of this — where women stay in the work force. The increasing availability of maternity leave, return to work and flexible working arrangements provide women with more opportunities to continue in our profession even after starting a family.
Equality and equity
We have fortunately seen many changes in the way women are perceived in our profession but of course there is also more to be done. There is a difference between equality and equity and the legal profession is known for its conservatism. A conservatism that envelopes its thinking, conduct and attitude. We need to unwrap this by exploring better ways of achieving our goal.
American social reformer Susan B Anthony once said “It was we, the people; not we, the white male citizens; nor yet we, the male citizens; but we, the whole people … Men, their rights and nothing more; women, their rights and nothing less.”
Susan’s words still ring true in today’s society — now more than ever.
Women leading the way
As we blaze our way towards gender parity, we also see those thinking outside of the box and utilising their innovative spirit and technology to further their business objectives and stand out above the rest.
To acknowledge QLS members leading the way in innovation, this year we introduced a new award to our annual Legal Profession Dinner and Awards night. The Innovation in Law Award recognises excellence by an individual or a firm in the development and/or application of technology.
The inaugural winner of our Innovation in Law Award was Sarah Roach from Helix Legal — launched in 2016. Labelled as a ‘newlaw’ firm, not quite a tech company but not quite a stock standard law firm, Helix Legal was founded by an all-female team and has seen great success within the last five months.
It is this mix of tradition with modernity that I believe will enable women in rising even further in their fields. In such women we see the pioneering spirit of Agnes McWhinney living on in our modern world.
[i] Merriam-webster.com. (2017). Definition of WOMAN. [online] Available at: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/woman [Accessed 28 Feb. 2017].
[ii] WGEA http://data.wgea.gov.au/industry.html?id=723&compid=2 at 16 April 2015. Based on the 2013/14 reporting period.
