A little touch of “Mad Men” in the office – E24

Highly fermented couples are attended almost exclusively by female assistants. It sounds like a television series, but it is a daily routine in the largest law firms in the country.

Norway is a small country. Most industries are small. Knowledge reigns. There is something about the expression “everyone knows everyone”. Your reputation and contacts may be more important than your resume. So, informal networks also become important for who is hired and who is interested in a position.

Just look all positions in Norway that are not publicly advertised. According to Nav’s latest business survey, 38 percent of jobs no announced in 2019. Rather, the employer used its own network. So the boss probably also ends up with a candidate who doesn’t think or doesn’t seem radically different.

But probably it’s who we know and who we compare ourselves to is so important to who we are interested in working for. And in what jobs it is natural for us to start. A place with people to whom we feel a sense of belonging. Because we are not all the same, some are more alike than others.

This is it probably also helps to explain why we sometimes get quite extreme effects on gender distribution in some professions. Why can we get 98 percent men as plumbers and 96 percent as firefighters. Or – about 100 percent women as paralegals and secretaries.

Anyway What are the stocks E24 finds, when we analyze who are employed in the 20 largest law firms in Norway. A lonely part-time man appeared among 150 paralegals. Or enter around 250 if you also bake secretarial titles.

Even in a Working life, which is also often skewed, are pretty straightforward figures. There must be more than “the usual suspects” behind here. It may be impossible to simply have a different emphasis on money, family, and prestige that makes one gender so dominant in a professional group.

For me In sectors with large gender differences, there is, after all, a certain element of both sexes. 10% of women work in construction and 20% of men in health and social services.

That is also little diversity, of course. But a man who wants to study or work as a nurse will often be able to find a male role model to contact or identify with. It will hardly be possible if the ambition is a paralegal.

And then it is it’s probably hard to start too. Few people want to stand out violently. Therefore, male applicants must also be practically non-existent. And that’s in an industry that is otherwise dominated by men at the partner level, but where women now make up a vast majority of students, and where the proportion of female partners is finally increasing.

Guarantees good in the long run. If the largest law firms in the country are going to be able to hire the best for all kinds of positions, they still have a long way to go. Nobody wants to look like a parody of a gender-segregated past. Where visitors to the reception are largely greeted only by women. In a kind of “Mad Men” style, the American television series that puts ancient prejudices in the spotlight.

And here he is talking We are also talking about visitors who demand more and more diversity from their suppliers. Large companies such as Equinor, Telenor and DNB have joined. Stronger requirements for gender balance between law firm partners are set as a condition for negotiating new framework agreements.

De ville It doesn’t hurt with a bit of diversity when customers also come to the reception area. Environments that live isolated from the outside world easily look strange. If diversity on the street becomes segregation in the office, the company acquires a tinge of anachronism. It’s hardly good for profit.

But to fix this not only depends on the companies, since everything has taken some measure. It is difficult to achieve a better balance without candidates. Campuses, parents, the media, and professional counselors in schools can also strive for gender-neutral language in advertisements and job descriptions.

Because here I should It is noted that the only avenue for men to enter law firms is not in fact a law degree of at least five years. That mentality must be reversed. And there are many environments that can contribute.

Perhaps Some learning points can also be gleaned from women in the IT industry. Technologists faced similar male dominance at the turn of the millennium. But the establishment of the specific Oda network in 2005 has done well to reverse the trend. It may be something to think about, also for campuses, plumbers, and aspiring male paralegals.