Flexible Working's Double-Edged Sword: How It Impacts Women's Legal Careers

The Impact of Flexible Working on Women in Law

A groundbreaking report from the International Bar Association reveals that flexible working arrangements have the greatest impact on women's careers in the legal sector, but not always in positive ways.

Key Findings from the 'Raising the Bar' Study

The IBA's comprehensive survey included 4,933 women from over 100 countries working across all legal sectors - private practice, in-house counsel, self-employed barristers, and the judiciary.

Women request flexible working hours more frequently than men, yet they receive proportionally fewer full approvals for these arrangements. This disparity creates significant challenges for women with caring responsibilities, particularly in private-practice settings where return-to-office expectations disproportionately affect them.

The Accessibility Gap

Despite the clear need, only 59% of respondents had access to flexible working arrangements. Even fewer had access to career development resources:

• 40% had access to coaching and mentoring programs
• Just 20% had access to leadership training

The bar was identified as the sector least likely to have workplace initiatives available - 20% of barristers/advocates reported having no initiatives available, compared to 90% of those working in firms who did have access.

Why Women Are Leaving the Legal Sector

The report reveals alarming statistics about women leaving the profession:

• 308 respondents had left the sector within the past five years
• 50% cited unhappiness with workplace culture
• 49% sought better support for mental or physical health elsewhere
• 24% experienced bias or discrimination in their role

Satisfaction Levels and Workplace Challenges

Women's satisfaction with career opportunities remains concerning:

• Only 45% were very satisfied or satisfied with opportunities for promotion or advancement
• Just 41% felt very satisfied or satisfied with support available for work-life balance

Chronic overwork, high billable-hour expectations, and entrenched norms of long hours were repeatedly highlighted as major barriers. Many respondents noted that while flexible working exists in policy, high workloads make these arrangements difficult to utilize in practice.

The Call for Structural Change

The report emphasizes that structural change to support women's progression across all sectors is still needed, along with cultural change within the profession. Respondents expressed growing expectations for legal workplaces to adopt clearer, more structured carers' policies, including:

• Expanded parental leave for all parents
• Childcare assistance
• Structured support for those returning from parental leave
• Support for managing other caring responsibilities

Six Key Recommendations

The IBA report makes six crucial recommendations to advance women's progression, inclusion and wellbeing:

1. Embed flexible work practices that are genuinely accessible
2. Publish clear, accessible information about available workplace initiatives
3. Incorporate workplace initiative participation into performance and promotion discussions
4. Establish structured mentorship and sponsorship programs
5. Address the gap in leadership training accessibility
6. Create more supportive workplace cultures that recognize diverse needs

The report concludes that while flexible working represents a potential solution for many women in law, its implementation must be accompanied by genuine cultural and structural changes to be effective.