Briana Calloway

Proposal for a Gender Equal Law Office

Intro
Over the past 40 years, women have slowly become more prominent members of the legal field
and the work force as a whole. However, women still make less money than their male
colleagues across multiple fields of work. They also hold less leadership positions. Concerning
law, men and women on average graduate law school at an equal rate. Further study shows that
their careers continue to be far from equal. This proposal investigates the compensation gap
between men and women in the field of law.
Focus Definition
Across all fields of work, there is a noticeable difference between men and womens salaries.
Generally, this is blamed on the assumption that women have less education, experience, and
work less hours. It is also believed that men value financial success while women value
relationships, a comfortable work environment, and safe working conditions. In comparison,
statistics show that when men and women are completing the same amount of work, with the
same amount of experience, men make on average, $11,084 more. The most recent data as of
2015 shows that women make 20% less than men. This difference in pay between genders also
applies to all ages and ethnic backgrounds.
Focus Description
Many disparities can be found when it comes to gender equality in the field of law. The rate of
compensation is the largest difference within law practices. Women on average make 55 cents
per dollar compared to men. Another study shows that female lawyers only make 61 to 63
percent compared to male lawyers with the same amount of experience. This gap is shown to
begin at the associate level and widen over time with more experience and stature within the
practice. Some researchers attribute this to the idea that men work longer hours, generate more
money, and simply perform better than women. However, further studies show that both genders
receive similar test scores in an academic setting. Additional research shows that women
outperform men academically as well.
The National Association of Womens Lawyers issued a challenge in 2006. The goal of this
challenge was to increase the number of women in law to at least 30 percent by 2015. This was
due to the statistics that showed women being 50 percent of law school graduates, but only
occupying 15 percent of leadership positions in law firms. In ten years, those numbers have
barely increased. Although the ratio of men to women filling entry level positions is equal,
women continue to stay on the lower end of compensation. My solution to this issue is for
women to be compensated equally, purely based on performance, assuming that the level of
experience is the same compared to men. This would eliminate any possible gender
discrimination. I believe that this would also inspire women to challenge themselves, work
towards higher positions in their field, and have the opportunity to achieve just as much as their
male colleagues.

Briana Calloway
References
Browne, Kingsley. Biology at Work: Rethinking Sexual Equality. Piscataway: Rutgers
University Press, 2002. Web. 3 Oct. 2016
Castilla, Emilio J. "Accounting for the Gap: a Firm Study Manipulating Organizational
Accountability and Transparency in Pay Decisions." Organization Science. Print.
Eikhof, Doris R. "A Double-Edged Sword: Twenty-First Century Workplace Trends and Gender
Equality." Gender in Management: an International Journal. 27.1 (2012): 7-22. Print.
Newton, David, and Mikhail Simutin. "Of Age, Sex, and Money: Insights from Corporate
Officer Compensation on the Wage Inequality between Genders." Management Science.
61.10 (2015): 2355-2375. Print.
Stiller Rikleen, Lauren. "Women Lawyers Continue To Lag Behind Male Colleagues." Women
Lawyers Journal 100.4 (2015): 23-40. Academic Search Complete. Web. 4 Oct. 2016.
Conclusion
The U.S. Civil Rights act of 1964 prohibits discrimination against women and other classes of
workers, but it has been consistently violated for nearly half a century. While society has been
changing within the past 40 years, gender discrimination has not. Although compensation for
women has improved over the years, the gap still remains. In essence, gender equality in the
workplace is something that should continue to be strived for. Within the field of law especially,
when the law itself protects against unfair treatment, compensation should be re-examined.
Unequal pay between genders has no basis under the law where all men and women are created
equal. Therefore, both parties should be paid as such.