Privileges and penalties in the legal profession: an intersectional analysis of career progression

Abstract

Intersectionality theory is concerned with integrating social characteristics to better understanding complex human relations and inequalities in organizations and societies (McCall ). Recently, intersectionality research has taken a categorical and quantitative turn as scholars critically adopt but retain existing social categories to explain differences in labour market outcomes. A key contention is that social categories carry penalties or privileges and their intersection promotes or hinders the life chances of particular groups and individuals. An emergent debate is whether the intersection of disadvantaged characteristics (such as female gender or minority ethnic status) produce penalties that are additive, multiplicative or ameliorative. Research is inconclusive and as yet pays little attention to moderating factors such as employer type, size, geographic location or work profile. Drawing on administrative records for individuals qualified as solicitors in England and Wales, collected by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), combined with aggregated workforce data and firm characteristics of their law firms, we undertake a statistical analysis of the intersection of gender and ethnicity in the profession with a degree of precision and nuance not previously possible. In response to calls to broaden studies of inequalities and intersectionality beyond their effect on pay or income (Castilla ) we focus on career progression to partnership as our key measure of success. The original contribution of our study is twofold. First, we establish statistically different profiles of law firms, showing how the solicitors' profession is stratified by gender, ethnicity and socio-economic background, as well as the type of legal work undertaken by developing a model of socio-economic stratification in the profession. Second, we demonstrate that while penalties tend to be additive (i.e. the sum of the individual ethnic and gender penalties) this varies significantly by law firm profile and in some situations the effect is ameliorative.

Professions and inequality: Challenges, controversies, and opportunities

“…Specifically, as Friedman has argued, workforce data on the socio-economic background of professional organizations' staff composition may contribute to theorizing how pay gaps and class ceilings may vary between organizations or sectors, or how the class may intersect with race and gender. This is in line with recent overviews that have emphasized the need to go beyond single-category explanations and better account for intersectionality (Amis et al, 2021;Benschop, 2021;Janssens and Zanoni, 2021;Tomlinson et al, 2018). Disclosing workforce data may also serve a practical goal as it may enhance public awareness about inequalities and, as such, contribute to some form of political and collective pressure through enhancing transparency.…”

“…dynamics, seeking to restrict access to opportunities to a limited circle of eligible candidates in order to maintain their professional status (Abbott, 1988). Substantial academic research in this field has shown that these closure regimes are gendered and racialized, disadvantaging women, ethnic minorities and individuals from less privileged backgrounds (e.g., Kay and Hagan, 1998;Kornberger, Carter and Ross-Smith, 2010;Tomlinson et al, 2013Tomlinson et al, , 2018Carter, Spence and Muzio, 2015). Research on professions has also revealed that the most powerful professional services firms, deriving from a handful of largely Anglo-Saxon economies, are instrumental in maintaining and extending a capitalist and neo-liberal world order (e.g., Reed, 2018), while also contributing to the reproduction of neo-colonial practices and relationships (e.g., Boussebaa, 2015b;Boussebaa and Faulconbridge, 2019).…”

An investigation of quantitative methods for assessing intersectionality in health research: A systematic review

“… Results may be less meaningful depending on the group specified to serve as the reference, which could be subjective. If one social position being combined is measured poorly, this method could amplify measurement bias Data reduction methods (latent class analysis, profile analysis) ( Aguirre et al, 2016 ; Goodwin et al, 2018 ; Juan et al, 2016 ; Price et al, 2019 ; Taggart et al, 2019 ; Tomlinson et al, 2019 ; Whaley & Dubose, 2018 ) This approach uses a data reduction method to create an “intersectional” variable, such as latent class analysis, principal components analysis, or profile analysis. In essence, all social factors of interest (i.e., gender, race, housing, etc.)…”

Gender Disparity in Judicial System of Pakistan: Attitude and Practices of Lawyers

“…It means young graduates rely on their seniors for learning those aspects which could boost their career graph. This is the point from where female suffering begins (Tomlinson et al 2019).…”