This headline grabbed my attention in the Law Society Gazette last week, feel free to check the full article out here: http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/law/female-solicitors-in-scotland-working-for-free-from-today/5050358.article
It caught my attention and I definitely wanted to read what it was about, and then as I started reading I saw that the article reflected the same sort of news posts we are seeing quite regularly across the press and other careers and that is surrounding the gender pay gap.
The first paragraph very simply stated that from now until the end of the year female solicitors are in effect working for free. A survey was conducted by the Law Society of Scotland where it compared the average full time salaries for men and women at all stages of their legal career.
There is so much in the press at the moment about gender inequality surrounding salaries and it seems that it the people backing a change to the system are keen to see something done in order to rectify the inequality.
One of the key statistics provided in the article was that at present there is a 42% pay gap between the genders of the Law Society of Scotland members. Whether you care about gender inequality or not, that statistic isn’t fair and cannot be justified.
Research showed that in the lower stages of the legal career there was very little in terms of gender inequality in terms of salary but as a person’s career progresses that is when the gap starts increase!
Check out the article for more statistics and information on the pay gap and career advancements in the legal profession – but it seems that the Law Society of Scotland are keen to rectify this from both a business and ethical perspective!
Rebecca x