‘Firms have to be flexible and acknowledge they may have fantastic senior associates who want to put their partnership ambitions on hold for a few years while they have a family.’ Isabella Roberts, Simmons & Simmons
Following on from our Alphas 2.0 feature, we ask female deal stars to talk about the challenges they have faced and still plague the industry today
Not there yet
‘There is much more awareness now about unconscious bias, and most institutions are making positive changes to encourage more diversity at the top end of the profession, which is good but these things take time to take effect so there is still a way to go.’
Sara Pickersgill, partner, Kirkland & Ellis
Family ties
‘On the family front, firms are more flexible about the “up and out” – realistically you cannot have everything in life at once, or do everything at once, so firms do have to be flexible and acknowledge they may have fantastic senior associates who want to put their partnership ambitions on hold for a few years while they have a family. Similarly, people need to be realistic – it’s tough getting to partnership, so you have to put the time and work in, and sometimes you have to be honest with yourself and what is your current priority.
It’s definitely also easier for people whose partners take on more of a role at home or in terms of childcare too – sadly I still see young women who out-earn their partners by a large amount being expected to do more childcare, more of the emotional load at home and having their career ambitions sidelined because their partner thinks that as a man his career is the focus.’
Isabella Roberts, partner, Simmons & Simmons
Latecomers
‘It is only relatively recently that you find more women in the private equity space, only recently that both PE firms and law firms and advisory firms have actively tried to recruit women. PE is late compared to other segments of the market. There are a lot of men at the senior end in the PE world.
When you look up in the profession and you don’t see anyone that looks like you – you don’t think that it will happen for you. It takes a lot of support from the people around you to be able to do that. Women don’t need to become men in order to succeed.’
Karen Guch, global chair of private equity, Baker McKenzie
Quality speaks volumes
‘Another perceived challenge for women is that M&A is sometimes portrayed as a “man’s world”, somewhere where you need characteristics that might be traditionally viewed as masculine traits to succeed, or you need to be “one of the guys” in order to bring in the deals in the first place. In my experience, that’s far from the case – the most effective deal lawyers are hard working, collaborative, and commercially focused, and both men and women can demonstrate those talents.
It certainly hasn’t become easier in terms of quality – there has always been and remains a very high bar to be elected as a partner, just as there is to reach the top of other legal paths or professional fields. That remains the case irrespective of whether it is a woman or a man getting elected. However, what has changed during my career has been the attitude of law firms and clients to achieving greater gender equality in partnerships.’
Fionnghuala Griggs, partner, Linklaters
Old habits die hard
‘We have no doubt made a huge amount of progress in the last five to ten years, but the fact is that M&A is male dominated and too often on big deals there is still only one female adviser in the room. Unfortunately, there are still some in the City who have the view that women can’t or shouldn’t operate in M&A at the top level – certainly within some investment banks and unfortunately within some law firms. So, women need to be resilient and confident so they can hold their own in those rooms and win over those who find the idea of a female M&A partner unusual. It’s all manageable but it’s a challenge that men don’t face.’
Caroline Rae, partner, Herbert Smith Freehills
The real issue
‘The industry needs to be more focused on social mobility if the objective is true diversity. It is imperative to make sure that minority groups who may face issues progressing are properly supported by the appropriate mentoring and decent training.’
Rebecca Jarvis, global co-head of banking, Linklaters
Lead the way
‘In the transactional practices, traditionally men have the benefit of a much larger number of readily available role models as compared to women. It is more challenging as a result for women to find and focus on their own path and trust their instinct on what would work best in building a successful career. It’s great to see a diverse mix of women coming up the ranks who can be role models to a younger generation.’
Aprajita Dhundia, partner, Kirkland & Ellis