JIHEE (MARIE) PARK
<Staff Writer>
More and more women are being admitted to law schools, a trend that is being observed across the country and over the past many decades. A long time ago, it was a remarkable struggle to be able to attend law school as a woman, but today the statistics show that women trump men in this calling, at least in number. Of the entering class of 2012 of the first-year program here at Osgoode Hall Law School, 53% are female. This may be seen as the result of decades of collective effort to promote gender equality in professional education and to diversify the perspectives of those who will be the future practitioners of law.
For some perspective, here are some numbers to consider.
According to the Canadian Bar Association, in 1970, 5% of lawyers were women. In ten years it became 15%, and in another decade grew to 30%. These correspondingly were the effects of increased female enrollment in law schools; in 2003, the trend had become such that there were 20% more women than men enrolled in Canada’s law schools.
It is premature to conclude, though, that these statistics indicate the success of the battle for gender-neutral selection of the legal profession. Indeed there are more female lawyers, especially among the most recent graduates. The LSUC also reported that in 2006, there were nearly 60% of lawyers between the ages 25-34 were women. This compares wildly to the mid-twentieth century, when only a handful of the student body were women, and those who graduated still faced gender-based challenges at the bar and beyond.
But these trends do not tell us that we have achieved equality among genders in legal scholarship and practice. One of the most telling statistics to consider is that the gender gap in salaries still is significant.
Looking closer now, according to CBA, the average income for female lawyers was $70 745 and for male lawyers was $114 384 in 2001. The LSUC adds that, in 2005, the mean earnings for women were 15% lower than that of men 35-39 years of age, but the salary gender gap does seem to improve for the younger generations of lawyers.
This can be interpreted to say that, unless greater interest is taken to promote equality in wages, the gender balance in the profession is far from complete. In fact, if the salary gap persists, it will be to the detriment of the profession. Taking the statistics together, it can be foreseen that though there will be a greater number of female lawyers practicing in the workforce, it is the men who continue to reap the best positions and benefits. Female lawyers may become the workhorse of the field, who must fight tougher challenges to secure their jobs against competition, while the men have the automatic privilege of earning better pay without giving an equal amount of effort.
Is the salary gap merely a remnant from a receding age of male domination in the profession? If so, then we will hopefully see the gap lessen to give women the equality in pay for the equality of scholarship we have gained. If not, then we may see a new dividing hierarchy within the profession, an unspoken bar that cannot be passed for female lawyers.
In the last several decades we have seen many great changes that improve the quality and diversity of the law schools in this country. As the new graduates begin to advance their careers into maturity, we are seeing the results of these changes – women in law have accomplished a plethora of national and international achievements. Perhaps, as the 53% of this year graduate and go on in their careers, we may see even more great women join the rosters of those women who have paved the road before us.