It’s no surprise that some films just stick and lead on to become the ultimate ‘classic’ watch. Since its rounds in cinemas early last year, ‘Barbie’ was and is one of highest-grossing films of all time, 67 years after the first Barbie made its debut. The film navigates the systemic and nuanced conditions that still exist for women after four waves of feminism and the continued complexities of the gender divide. Mattel’s lean-in to the complex layers of diversity, equity, and inclusion, is a response to what is top of mind for audiences, consumers, candidates, and talent.
Both legal and computer science career Barbies grace the toy market, with mirror complexities to what we see in both legal and legal tech. In 2010, Mattel introduced Computer Engineer Barbie, selected as the 126th career choice that from an online poll that beat out surgeon, architect and environmentalist; this offering included a pink laptop, Bluetooth earpiece, smartphone, binary code T-shirt, and accompanying book entitled “I Can Be a Computer Engineer” that included Barbie saying she is only “creating design ideas”, however she needs the help of a “Steven and Brian”.1 Similar to the existing industry climate, we see a qualification in gender roles and ability to gender advancement. While many businesses in the UK are recognised for acknowledging the importance of gender equality, 43% of women in the UK said they feel women are not equally promoted to men at their company according to Hibob. A reminder that there is significant work still to be done.
Mirrored complexities. Challenges facing the legal profession and legal tech.
Although we have seen progress in recent years with more women joining the legal industry and female lawyers (52%) now outnumbering male solicitors (47%) (Prospect), women are still largely underrepresented in senior roles, with only 35% being private practice partners despite the majority (61%) of solicitors being female. The gender pay gap remains evident, with pay disparity starting right from the beginning of a lawyer’s career, nearly half (45%) of women in the UK reported they felt like they were not being paid equally to their male counterparts.
The gender pay gap is just one of the many challenges women face in the workplace, coupled with systemic social norms, unconscious biases, and a lack of representation of women in senior roles. Research has also shown that 47% of women worry about being let go during the current economic downturn while 13% of women have considered delaying starting a family for fear of losing their jobs, with concern that going on birth-related and or parental leave would place them at a disadvantage, decreasing their chances of promotion.
While we are still seeing a rise in female representation in both law and technology, the numbers remind us of the progress needed. Globally, female partners in law firms hovers around 36% (2023) and women in tech, a newer industry by comparison to law, hold a global representation of almost 11% in CEO/senior leadership positions. We are proud at Litera to hold 37% female executive representation.
Fostering equity before equality.
While great strides have been made to close the gender gap over the last few years, it is evident that more work needs to be done to not only improve gender equality in the workplace but also equity. Within this sphere, the environment and culture needs to focus on the empowerment of women in succession and provide them with opportunities to develop and grow. Senior leaders play a vital role in being supportive change agents and recognising gaps in the workforce. In nurturing a progressive workplace, organisations need to understand the needs of their talent and make continuous and intentional efforts to increase visibility and opportunities for women in the workplace. Only then can women be on a level playing field.
Addressing gender discrimination in systemic processes is important to creating a more equitable sound environment. To enable change, organisations must consider the diverse experiences of each employee and play an active role in promoting and supporting them in their career development. This takes organisational commitment, and it starts with leadership. The Mansfield Rule, inspired by a winning idea at the 2016 Women in Law Hackathon, measures whether law firms have affirmatively considered at least 30% women2, lawyers of colour, LGBTQ+ lawyers, and lawyers with disabilities for leadership and governance roles, equity partner promotions, formal client pitch opportunities, and senior lateral positions.3 This statistic of 30% is a start to shifting the playing field.
Shifting the playing field
At Litera, we seek to contribute to narrowing the gender divide with not only clients in the legal field but also internally with our talent base. We have taken an intentional approach to investing in Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) with a three-year crawl-walk-run that operates across all functions and ensures leadership is committed and accountable. Consequently, we achieved over 37% female representation in C-Suite and strong representation across our senior leadership team in gender and orientation, adhering to the guidelines set by the Mansfield rule in order to promote inclusivity and equity.
But why is over 30% an indicator of positive movement?
According to Lisa Kirby, Chief Intelligence & Knowledge Sharing officer at Diversity Lab who led the creation and implementation of the Mansfield rule, there has to be a 30% critical mass to disrupt bias. Diverse representation in the advancement of a DEI strategy holds weight, with invested corporate governance and decision makers at the table that influence and prioritise platforms for DEI at the table, to align to talent retention, engagement, and safety.
Thus, it is important that talent has a place to feel safe first when developing the environment to build career opportunities in order to foster true equality. But beyond ensuring there is a gender balance in hiring, it is vital to also elevate the balance, once each person has started their working life in the workforce. We have initiatives like the Women@Litera Leadership Committee that provides opportunities to have a voice, network, seek mentorship and be sponsored.
Additionally, we also have established Employee Resource Groups with the aim of amplifying the voices of individuals with disabilities, the Black and LGBTQ communities with the recognition of the intersections of female employees. In this, it is important to maintain space to continually learn as a company and leadership team – to first ask, listen, then take action, then ask again.
To establish a culture of equity and equality, organisations need to be intentional and reflective in their own practices and data in addressing gender gaps. The willingness to not only interrogate practices transparently but to also have leadership commit across the company as a consistent practice is where change comes. Through our DEI work, establishing integrity and employee voices was a way to shift towards a more inclusive and equitable future.
Despite more companies ensuring they have an eye on the issues faced by those that identify as women, the reality is that there is more progress needed. Similar to the Barbie movie, we see the call for deliberate, intentional, and courageous effort in standing in the fire of where industries may fall short – organisational courage is an important and critical skill where the investment in DEI and DEI leadership can support.
