The Closing the Ethnicity Stay Gap Report by Rare (from September 2020) had a number of key findings that we wanted to explore further. The report identified that BAME lawyers spend on average 20% less time in post than their white counterparts. It also identified the following factors to be the underlying reasons for BAME lawyers leaving early.
- Differential treatment based on race. 84% said they had experienced implicit racism or exclusion, while 35% had experienced explicit racism directed at them. This was consistent across all firms and firm types.
- Gender. 50% of the BAME women left their firms within three years of qualification compared to 21% of the BAME men. The BAME women were also twice as likely as the BAME men to experience explicit racism and 50% more likely to experience implicit racism.
- Lack of senior sponsorship or backing. Twice as many BAME lawyers who received senior sponsorship stayed compared to those who didn’t.
- Unfair work allocation. The BAME lawyers in this study who left early were more likely to believe they had experienced unfair work allocation than the group as a whole (81% versus 64%).
- Lack of practice group diversity. 52% of the BAME lawyers in non-diverse practice groups left early versus 18% in diverse practice groups.
- Conflict handling. Senior backing is empowering and can reinforce the existence of an inclusive culture, making it more likely a BAME lawyer will be retained.
They found no clear evidence that any other variables – for example firm type, or educational or social background of BAME lawyers – had an impact on the decision to leave early.
Read the Summary Report: Closing the Ethnicity Stay Gap (September 2020)
