The CBC recently aired a documentary titled The Motherload. http://www.cbc.ca/player/Shows/ID/2429069222/
In The Motherload different working mothers’ experiences are featured, including “Emilie, a prosecutor for the federal government and mother of three, who has just returned to work after her third and final maternity leave”. Emilie is the daughter of former Canadian Supreme Court Justice Louise Arbour. http://www.cbc.ca/doczone/episodes/motherload
Emilie laments that as a ten year call she often finds herself doing work that is not matched to her experience or seniority.
The documentary highlights that we see the biggest difference in career trajectory not between women and men but between mothers and men. A professor in the documentary mentions that the workforce is structurally designed to de-skill mothers. Furthermore, we see certain professions or subgroups of professions being ghettoized according to gender.
In the legal profession, some women are choosing to advance alternative careers, but others are being forced through structural obstacles to take on less fulfilling work.
As Richard Susskind states “the legal profession has always been on the cutting edge of tradition”. Perhaps, sexism is a tradition we can leave behind.
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