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An uneven playing field: Experiences of female legal practitioners in Zimbabwe
Author(s) -
Maunganidze Farai,
Bonnin Debby
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
gender, work and organization
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.159
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1468-0432
pISSN - 0968-6673
DOI - 10.1111/gwao.12535
Subject(s) - glass ceiling , legislation , thematic analysis , legal profession , affect (linguistics) , political science , negotiation , public relations , gender studies , sociology , law , qualitative research , social science , communication
This article focuses on women legal practitioners in Zimbabwe. Despite extensive legislation outlawing gender‐based discrimination, Zimbabwean women have not been able to achieve equality in the workplace. The article explores the conundrum posed by, on the one hand, an increase in enrollments and graduations of women law students, and on the other hand, fewer women entering legal practice. The article suggests three dynamics lie behind the failure of practice to attract and retain female lawyers. First, overt discrimination faced by female lawyers. Second, the structuring of the profession and work environment, which creates an “uneven playing field.” And third, the attitudes of male practitioners and partners as well as the spouses of women lawyers, which affect the entry and retention of women in the profession as well as their career prospects. Subsequently, women legal practitioners are accorded a lower professional status than men and are underrepresented in important facets of legal practice. The study was premised on social role theory and the concept of the glass ceiling. Forty‐six participants were interviewed in an interpretivist approach study where data was analyzed using thematic analysis with the assistance of ATLAS TI 8.