Canada, In-House Counsel, Women's Issues

The View From Up North: Female In-House Counsel Get Short End Of Stick Compared To Male Counterparts

If that’s happening to female lawyers, what’s going on with other women who don’t have a legal toolbox -- and will it ever change?

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Canada View From Up North On January 1, 1919, all Canadian women over the age of 21 gained the right to vote in federal elections. That momentous change came after years of passionate national debate over a woman’s place in society.

Here is a sampling of the arguments made against suffrage in a pamphlet published in 1910 by an anti-suffrage association:

Because 80% of women eligible to vote are married and can only double or annul their husbands’ votes.

Reading between the lines: Your husband is more important than you because he’s a man. If you vote the same as him, you simply double his vote. But, if you vote differently, you’re killing his vote. Oh, by the way, we’re not worried about the substantial minority of unmarried women who are disenfranchised. They should just get married. Problem solved. Now, make me supper.

Because 90% of the women either do not want it, or do not care.

Little known fact. This poll was conducted by the He-Man Woman Haters Club. Margin of error +/- 90%, 19 times out of 20.

Because it is unwise to risk the good we already have for the evil which may occur.

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Quoting Dr. Peter Venkman in Ghostbusters: “Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together… mass hysteria!”

All I can say is, you’ve come a long way, baby.

Or have you?

We live in a very conservative society. It takes years for things to change — truly change. Nearly a hundred years after women achieved the right to vote, society is still making it systemically tougher on the fairer sex.

I’m sure we all know that. We just tend to forget or ignore it. The suffrage movement grew over many years. It was very powerful because women were passionate about disenfranchisement. Passion leads to change.

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The gap between men and women is so much smaller today, there appears to be little passion left to close the remaining gap. We have female CEOs and politicians. We expect our daughters to go to university, have a career, raise a family — have it all, as it were.

Women are “this-close” to gender equality, yet the glass ceiling is very much sitting above the heads of our mothers, wives, and daughters, like an unfashionable glass hat.

Here’s the latest example of that ugly glass hat. Who are the most powerful people in society? Who writes the laws? Who keeps you out of jail?

Lawyers.

Did you know female in-house counsel make, on average, 15% less than their male counterparts?

Same expensive education.

Same high achievement.

Same work.

Same headaches.

According to the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association’s 2016 In-House Counsel Compensation and Career Survey Report, the average male in-house base salary is $178,700. The average female base salary is $152,000.

Minus 15%. $26,700. The price of a pretty nice car.

The CCCA conducts these salary surveys every four years. The wage gap between male and female has actually increased slightly since 2010. Whereas I would expect the wage gap to narrow as society “progresses,” it has actually gone up…

Here are some other gender gap facts I gleaned from the survey. Only 5% of male in-housers have a base of less than $100k, compared to 10% of female in-housers.

On the high end, 26% of males earn a $200k+ base, compared to only 15% of females. In fact, male general counsels are paid an average of $59,000 more than female general counsels. The price of a Porsche.

Thus, women are more likely to land in lower paying in-house roles, less likely to land a plum GC role, and very likely to get paid less than their male counterparts in any comparable role.

If that’s happening to female lawyers, what’s going on with other Canadian women who don’t have a legal toolbox — and will it ever change? Will society ever truly reach gender equality?

Maybe.

But, it’ll happen organically, not because of a passionate desire for change. Put differently, it’ll happen because society continues to evolve, not because female in-housers band together to form the In-House Gender Wage Gap Reduction Society (the “IHGWGRS”). There will be no marches on Parliament Hill for this ugly glass hat.

Why? Do the math. 61% of all female in-housers earn a base salary between $120,000 and $200,000. That’s a lot of money by most standards. It’s pretty hard to get angry at gender inequality when you’re making a ton of money… and you have a job to do… and kids to take to soccer… and you haven’t seen your sister in months… and the car needs an oil change… and your parents are getting older…

Who has time for crusading when you’re a modern female lawyer who has it all (except true gender equality)?

It’s something you get ticked off at for a moment (that jackass Leonard makes more than me?!??), then you grab yourself an $8 SuperMochaFrappaLatte… and get back to your busy life.

Not saying that’s right or wrong. Just saying it is what it is.

If you want to take a look at the CCCA’s compensation survey, you can find it on the website of our friends at The Counsel Network. The survey contains loads more about in-house compensation and is well worth your time if you’re interested.

That’s the View From Up North. Have a gender-neutral week.

Steve Dykstra is a Canadian-trained lawyer and legal recruiter. He is the President of Steven Dykstra Law Professional Corporation, a boutique corporate/commercial law firm located in the greater Toronto area. You can contact Steve at steve@stevendykstralaw.ca. You can also read his blog at stevendykstra.wordpress.com, follow him on Twitter (@Law_Think), or connect on LinkedIn (ca.linkedin.com/in/stevedykstra/).

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