Men and women and making partner

Excerpt from an interview with Suzanne Graeser, a corporate partner at MoFo, on Ms. JD:

What are your thoughts on the retaining women in corporate law practice?
I am very aware of the lack of female partners in corporate law, and it has been getting progressively worse.
Recruiting and retaining more female partners is one way to help remedy the issue.  Many female associates become corporate lawyers, but they often choose to go in-house or leave the legal profession after a few years.  If the leadership had more women, more women would likely be hired and more women would stay. Seeing women in positions of power helps attorneys visualize a successful career path as a female corporate partner.

I don't disagree with this. Role models in positions of power who people can identify with are always important. I agree that if women who would otherwise become corporate partners at law firms are being deterred for some reason, it's a bad thing. And maybe, because of the lack of opportunity, role models, whatever, women don't see making partner in the corporate department of a large firm as a viable option and don't give it as much consideration as they do other career paths. I'm sure that's true for some women.

But frankly, maybe most women see what life as a corporate partner in a large law firm is like and decide they don't want that. If you're an American woman in a position to become a corporate partner, you probably have a financial choice about whether to work, and you certainly have societal approval of choosing not to work. So you choose to work, but you're conscious that you're making a trade-off against your family. As a result, you actively seek balance. Life as a corporate partner does not give you that, so you consider alternatives.

On the other hand, if you're an American man in a position to become a corporate partner, you may have a financial choice about whether to work, but you certainly don't have anyone telling you that working is a choice or that staying home is a valid choice. You may think about work-life balance, but when other people talk about balance, it's often in the context of "women's issues." Even though you may want more time with your family, your job at the large law firm doesn't permit it, and that's just the way it is.

I'm generalizing, of course. But I do think that women are more likely to pursue nontraditional paths, and specifically paths that are less likely to lead to traditional positions of power, because we see our careers as our choice. In contrast, men are more likely to see their careers as their duty and maybe even their primary purpose, so they are more focused on traditional success and power.

I have met many a male partner or senior associate who says he wishes he had more time with his kids, but it's just not possible. And I have met many a female partner or senior associate -- well, scratch that "many," because the majority of female partners and senior associates I know are childless, but let's talk about the ones with kids -- who has taken a part-time position or left law firm life to find a more flexible arrangement. Every female associate I know with kids has at least thought about part-time, while the male associates don't even consider it. I think it's because the women have permission to think about and search for work-life balance, but the men for the most part don't, at least not yet.