Women's bar report addresses problems associated with part-time policies.

Women are not reaching the senior ranks of law firms in large numbers, despite the fact that the number of women graduating from law school has increased substantially since the early 1970s, according to a recent report by the Employment Issues Committee of the Women's Bar Association of Massachusetts.

According to the report, women consistently leave their jobs at law firms at a higher rate than men. The committee hopes that a greater understanding of part-time policies and practices among law firms will provide insight into this problem. Women are more likely than men to work reduced-hour schedules.

"If this issue is not addressed, an entire segment of the legal employment market will remain largely closed to women," said Andrea Kramer, one of the primary authors of the report, who practices in Boston. "Because senior positions in the legal profession feed into other positions, such as judgeships, top jobs in industry and business, and senior government jobs, women will continue to be at a disadvantage in those fields as well if changes are not made in firms' practices."

According to the report, while women represent 28 percent of all attorneys at the respondent firms, they constituted 40 percent of all attorneys leaving the firms. Almost 40 percent of full-time and part-time attorney respondents who left their firm between 1996 and 1998 reported that their firm's policies or approach toward reduced-hours arrangements affected their decision to leave. Over one-third of respondents believed that, as a result of law firm cultural factors, reduced-hours schedules are detrimental to one's career.

"Some of the problems cited by the respondents include the attitude that a woman is not as committed if she is working part-time, negative comments and belittling by coworkers, and assumptions regarding how part-time workers utilize their time," said Kramer. "Merely having a written part-time policy is not sufficient. What matters more is the message the firms send to their part-time workers."

Effective part-time policies and practices benefit law firms as well as their attorneys, according to the report. Opportunities for reduced-hours arrangements, the authors found, are necessary to attract and retain a talented labor pool, and well-integrated part-time policies and practices can reduce attrition and increase loyalty among the firm's attorneys. Ninety percent of survey respondents who work reduced hours reported that their firm's willingness to provide the opportunity to work part-time has affected their decision to stay at the firm.

The committee used three surveys to gather data for the report. The first survey requested information on the written part-time policies, utilization of those policies, and rates of attrition at the 100 largest law firms in the state--including firms ranging in size from more than 300 attorneys to less than 20.

The second asked attorneys who have a reduced-hours arrangement at these firms, or who have had one in the past, about their experiences. The third asked all the women who had left these firms during the three years before the survey about their reasons for leaving, the role (if any) that the firm's part-time policies and practices played in their decision, and where they went after leaving the firm.

A full copy of the report, More than Part- Time: The Effect of Reduced-Hours Arrangements on the Retention, Recruitment, and Success of Women Attorneys in Law Firms, is available online at www.womensbar.org.