News flash: Women leave private practice

Susan Pinker's new book on the gender gap tells it like it is
Susan Pinker's new book on the gender gap tells it like it is

 As we mentioned yesterday, the retention of women in private practice is a hot topic. The latest issue of The Globe and Mail’s Report on Business Magazine (which arrived in papers today) includes an excerpt from a new book by Susan Pinker called The Sexual Paradox: Extreme Men, Gifted Women and the Real Gender Gap. The excerpt tells the commonly told story:

  • More women than men graduate from law school…
  • But the corporate law environment is not women-friendly…
  • So, despite the influx of women entering the profession, few stick around to make partner…
  • That’s because women want to spend more time with their kids and often take lower paying jobs with more flexible hours to do so.

Craziest quote: “One lawyer in her late 40s avowed that if her 19-year-old daughter chose to go into law, she’d go into mourning. ‘It’s not a life.’” Yikes.