According to recent data by the American Bar Association, the number of women lawyers continues to increase, from 31% in 2010 up to 38% in 2022. Further, about 22% of equity partners were women in 2020, up from 15% in 2012, according to the National Association of Women Lawyers. But there is no question that men still dominate the legal profession. We wondered why that is and wanted to better understand why “[w]omen as a whole are much more dissatisfied with their law firms than men.”

To answer this question, we polled roughly 65 women lawyers in the Cleveland community for the three most important factors that led to their professional success and satisfaction. What we learned is that personal relationships and meaningful work are the most important factors to job satisfaction, followed by mentorship, autonomy, and flexibility in schedule. Less important factors are compensation, paths to promotion, and internal leadership opportunities. In other words, women want to feel supported and enjoy the work they are doing.

So how can law firms address these factors and continue to attract, retain, and help women lawyers prosper? Based on the factors identified as most important, we offer five ways for firms to champion and support their women lawyers. We hope that implementing these ideas will help us — together — keep trending upward.

Read the article by Elisa Arko and Chelsea Mikula below.