New York Lawyer
December 2, 2004

Q:
A recent study finds that young women lawyers earn less than their male counterparts, on average $14,000 a year less. Why is this?

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A:

A recent study, called "After the JD," is following 5,000 lawyers for ten years; all were admitted to the bar in 2000. (The study is sponsored by a variety of groups including the American Bar Foundation, NALP and the National Conference of Bar Examiners.) This preliminary report of lawyers two to three years into their careers has some interesting results. One is that lawyers aren�t working as hard as the press likes to suggest, typically working 50 hours a week (caveat: 39% of young New York lawyers report working more than 60 hours per week). Also, lawyers aren�t nearly as miserable as we sometimes think (although those earning the most are the crankiest).

But the most striking finding, to my mind, is that women in the study are earning far less than their male counterparts, with an overall $14,000 gap ($66,000 for women and $80,000 for men). The difference is explained in part by the fact that women are more likely to go into lower paying fields (e.g., government and public interest). And there�s some good news: in the 101- to 250-lawyer firms, women slightly outearn men. But otherwise, across the board, the figures for these young women were lower than for the guys of the same age and seniority: in firms of less than 100 lawyers, $90,000 for the females, $100,000 for the men; in public interest jobs, $37,750 for women, $48,000 for the guys; $65,000 as the salary for women in business, as against $87,000 for men.

What�s going on here? I, like many others would have predicted at this early stage of practice that the salaries of men and women would have been more aligned. We�re surprised considering the vast success women have experienced over the last generation (in terms of numbers, advancement, etc.) as compared to pre-1960�s days.

The summary of the study, in the Fall 2004 Special Issue of "Researching Law," published by the American Bar Foundation (you can find the whole report online at www.nalpfoundation.org), hints at some of the problems. Women record lower levels of satisfaction relating to their job setting, social interaction, and the "power track" (meaning compensation and advancement). They report more discriminatory treatment than do men, and are more likely to consider new employment. Also, they have different networking patterns: men are more likely to hang out with the partners for drinks and write for legal publications, whereas women are more likely to join the recruitment committee.

The "After the JD" study is ongoing, and they will probably develop more theories about why this state of affairs exists. I would like to suggest, based on the research done for my book (Gender on Trial: Sexual Stereotypes and Work/Life Balance in the Legal Workplace, ALM, 2003), some likely reasons, and the lessons women might consider taking away:

Women aren�t as likely to negotiate for higher salaries. This was the central thesis of a recent book called Women Don�t Ask, by Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever. Men are more likely to push back when in a negotiating situation, whereas women are more likely to take what they�re offered. Lesson: women need to be more conscious of what options are available to them, and not assume that the offer or raise presented to them is the end of the story -- it�s only the beginning.

Along the same lines, women don�t tout their accomplishments as much as men. One often hears women say that they "don�t like to toot their own horn," whereas the observation is that men are more inclined to brag a little. The problem is that in busy practice settings, people simply won�t magically know what colleagues are up to, and won�t have the time or inclination to find out. And it has been proven time and time again that simply keeping your head down and working hard is not enough to ensure success. Lesson: get comfortable with ways to advise people of your accomplishments.

Men get ahead by drinking at the bar with the power brokers. People give work to people they know and trust. If partners have hung out with the guys more, they will know and like them better, and think of them when it comes to giving out work. This directly translates, when review time comes, to higher dollars, due to higher exposure and better work. Lesson: women need to be more proactive when it comes to getting to know movers and shakers within their workplaces. More often than not, it�s who you know rather than what you know that spurs success.

Women are thinking ahead about work/life balance. They are more likely, from the beginning, to plan their career with future family concerns in mind. Thus they may determine that they won�t even think about M&A, but instead will focus on lower-key practices. Although this may work out well during times where family concerns predominate, it could be that this factor gets too much attention from women. Lesson: when determining your specialization, make sure to enter practice areas you like, and have work/life balance be a concern, but not the only concern.

There are doubtless other reasons for this state of affairs, including that men still are viewed more as breadwinners (requiring more money) than are women. Nonetheless, it is striking and disturbing that such a major pay gap between men and women exists so early in people�s careers. We�ll look forward to further findings from this study and hope that even more causes are illuminated, so that we can look towards solutions.

Sincerely,
Holly English