On this international women’s day and inspired by reading Lady Hale’s autobiography (Spider Woman), I have been reflecting on my own career in law and life as a woman.
Whilst unlike Lady Hale I will never reach the dizzy heights of being a Supreme Court Judge, I have been happy with my life in law.
I started out at a time when women of my class still generally got married had children and worked for ‘pin money’ rather than having careers.
I was the first in my family to go to university and had no idea what I was getting myself into!
The legal profession was male dominated, and old fashioned, and we women could not even wear trousers in court (or the office).
Thankfully, it has come a long way since then with over 50% of the entrants into the solicitor’s profession today being women.
I have dedicated most of my working life to seeking justice and fairness in the employment field whether by assisting employers or employees.
I am very proud to have been involved in the national equal pay campaigns where equality was achieved for thousands of women working in local government and in the NHS.
There is, however, still a long way to go. The current version of the Equality Act could do with a serious look at (attention Mr Starmer).
For instance, true pay fairness cannot be achieved for a woman unless her job is exactly equal to her male comparator’s. If her job scores 90% against the man’s she loses, she is not entitled to be paid 90% of his rate even though he could be paid £1,000s more.
I am also proud to work for a firm with a good balance of women in senior roles. It cannot be a coincidence that in such a firm, part-time and term time working (Flexible working helps widen talent pool) is embraced.
It is important that good men are influenced by good women!
So, whilst some today may be reflecting on the negatives (and I have already heard it said that this week’s budget is sexist) and I agree there is still much to be done, as I sit in the office in my trousers, I want to reflect on the positives and how far we have already travelled because it is that knowledge of past achievement which gives us the strength to push on towards a more inclusive society.
Today’s young women truly do stand on the shoulders of superheroes.
