Starting a Women’s Initiative         

The business case for women's initiatives is clear: women make up so large a percentage of the best legal talent that law firms cannot afford to lose or waste such valuable resources. Consulting companies like Deloitte & Touche have shown that initiatives intended to retain and promote women have tangible, measurable benefits for the entire firm. By Ida Abbott

Deloitte increased the number of women partners, principals and directors from 97 in 1993 to 617 in 2003; it has had the highest percentage of women in these positions of the Big Four consulting firms every year since 1997, and was the first to have a woman board chair. Because its initiative led to practices and policies that benefited all employees, it also increased retention and satisfaction levels throughout the firm. Deloitte attributes its 1992 - 2003 increase in annual revenues from $1.93 billion to $5.93 billion in large part to increased workforce satisfaction, productivity, and commitment resulting from its Women's Initiative.

Women’s initiatives can take many forms. Some are national or even global in scope, while others focus on a small group in a single office; some initiatives focus on changing firm culture while others concentrate on accomplis-hing one or two discrete objectives.”

A successful women's initiative also advances law firm diversity. Diversity efforts are being driven both by firms' own good intentions and increasingly, by corporate clients' demands that the law firms representing them demonstrate a commitment to diversity, including gender diversity. In addition, more and more women are business owners, business leaders, and decision-makers who expect to see women lawyers in the law firms they hire. In this market environment, having strong, prominent women partners and leaders makes a law firm stand out - and attract good clients.

The absence of women at the top is in large part due to a male-dominated culture and work structure. While many of the difficulties of law practice are the same for men and women, women face unique obstacles, including sexual stereotypes, alienation in a masculine work environment, and childbearing issues. Women lawyers are increasingly knocking down barriers to advancement, but they are also leaving practice, dissatisfied by what they have to sacrifice to achieve success - or by what success brings when they reach the top. Capable and ambitious young women see few role models who validate the rewards of persevering toward partnership. They find little motivation to remain in an environment they find inhospitable, insensitive, and unfair to women.

Women's initiatives help counter these conditions. They help women develop the skills, strategies, clients, and power base to rise in the law firm and the profession. They create a sense of community and mutual support that make women feel committed to each other and to the firm. And at the same time, they can lead to cultural and institutional changes that make the work environment more conducive to the success of all who work there.

Women's initiatives can take many forms. Some are national or even global in scope, while others focus on a small group in a single office; some initiatives focus on changing firm culture while others concentrate on accomplishing one or two discrete objectives.

Back: Worklife & Careers

Back: Home