Women have never been absent from the global legal profession, but they are often silently “held back” from moving up the ladder.
In Australia, for example, according to figures released by the Law Society of NSW in 2022, female lawyers have become the majority, accounting for 53% of all registered lawyers. At the same time, however, they remain significantly under-represented at senior and partner levels.
This is a gap that exists in many countries and regions.
As a result, we are hearing the question more and more frequently, “How do female lawyers balance family and career?” This may sound like a well-intentioned concern, but in fact, it is going in the wrong direction from the way the question is asked.
“How do you balance work and family life?”
It sounds like a caring, but in fact there has long been a built-in bias. It defaults family life to women’s tasks, equates promotion with individual choice, and dumps all institutional barriers on individual effort.
When organizations, industries, and even society as a whole push women into the battlefield of self-regulation by saying, “You have to figure it out on your own,” the problem itself is wrong. It’s not that women aren’t “trying hard enough”, it’s that the system has never really designed a path for them.
It is customary to interpret women’s departure from the workplace as a “life choice” or a “lack of ambition”, but this is too superficial. It’s not that some women don’t “work hard enough” or “aren’t capable enough,” but rather that they’ve seen firsthand the price paid by the women who came before them – endless overtime, round-the-clock responses, shifting of family responsibilities, and sacrifices of health. So they ask quietly in their minds:
“Do I have to work this hard, too, to be counted as successful?”
As Julie Ward, President of the New South Wales Court of Appeal, recalls, a senior female lawyer once told her she wasn’t going to fight for promotion to partner because she saw the sacrifices she had to make. But Julie Ward was shocked by this; for in her mind, she never thought that the two things could not go hand in hand.
Her predecessors, who had grown up in a resource-poor and demanding environment, were probably so used to sacrifice that they didn’t even see it as a “price” anymore, while her successors, who were watching from the starting point, were skeptical of the logic that they had to change their lives in order to get a position.
Therefore, they turn around not because they are not determined enough, but because they are rejecting a “standard template of success” that is too expensive. This is not a renunciation of ambition, but an examination and protest against the rules.
When we really get down to asking the questions, it’s time to go in a different direction:
Why is childcare still by default a woman’s responsibility?
Why are workers with flexible work arrangements often discounted in performance reviews?
Why are “successful women” specifically recognized instead of being the norm?
Organizational level
1. The performance system focuses on results, not working hours.
Abandon the evaluation logic of “who stays in the office longer”, and use result-oriented indicators such as project completion, customer feedback, and business impact to truly measure the value of the work.
2. Establish a “return channel” with a mechanism.
Set up a clear return plan for employees who have gone through career breaks such as childcare, including stage-by-stage training, space for goal adjustment, and targeted support from senior colleagues, so as to reduce the cost of breaks.
Industry level
1. Disclose key data to promote real improvement
Regularly disclose gender-related data such as promotion ratio, salary difference, reasons for leaving, etc., so as to make the problems visible and provide a clear direction for policy optimization.
2. Listen to the voices of those who leave and provide feedback on the blind spots of the system
Establish a systematic mechanism of “exit interviews with women” to understand their real reasons for leaving, not to persuade them to come back, but to fix the structural problems that made them leave.
It is not that they “want to stay”, but that they insist on staying, even in the midst of an irrational structure. The real question to be asked is never their choice, but why it is so difficult to “stay”. Gender is never the source of the problem, but systems and cultures often create it.
This generation of female lawyers is not just “staying”, they are changing. They are using their professionalism, resilience and choices to make the legal profession more worthwhile.
Written by Xueying Yang; Content planning: Sun Gang; Xueying Yang; Proofreading: Sun Gang
The content of this article is based on publicly available information and the author’s understanding, and does not constitute any form of professional legal advice or basis for business decisions. Readers should refer to this article in the context of their own actual situation and consult relevant professionals for specific guidance. The author and the publishing platform do not assume legal responsibility for any consequences arising from the use of the information in this article.
Consultation with Specialized Lawyers
Abraham Sun
Principal Solicitor
As the Principal Solicitor, Abraham has been working with numerous clients including listed companies, state-owned enterprises, ultra-high-net-worth clients, and investment banks. Customers in various industries including Australian and Chinese companies and individual investors, had achieved considerable economic benefits with his professional legal advice.
Annette Leung
Partner, Solicitor, Notary Public
Annette is an experienced lawyer who works with clients in a wide range of commercial and civil disputes, with a particular focus on marriage and family affairs. Also, her experience extends to assisting clients in other common law countries.
Amy Zhu
Partner, Senior Licensed Conveyancer
Amy is an experienced licensed conveyancer with years of experience in conveyancing matters. She has outstanding work experience and achievements in conveyancing services under property law and conveyancing law provisions. She is skilled in working with clients in Mandarin and English.
Ming Zhao
Partner, Solicitor
Ming is proficient in immigration law and has over 20 years of experience in this area of law. He specialises in business skills migration, employer nomination scheme, employer nomination migration in regional areas, etc. Also, Ming is highly experienced in all areas of criminal defence, including matters involving drink driving, drive while disqualified/suspended, etc.
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