This week saw publication of the government's independent review on social mobility, to much fanfare and many Radio 4 interviews. Social mobility tsar Alan Milburn looked at law, journalism, politics and medicine and, whilst law was the least worst profession, his conclusions were not exactly positive.
The gist of the report is that the top jobs are still dominated by an elite: "the glass ceiling has been scratched but not broken". Milburn praised law firms for "being on the right track" and leading the field for social mobility initiatives but described progress as "too slow".
The report criticised the top of the legal profession for being "dominated by a social elite", highlighting that 15 of 17 Supreme Court judges were educated at private schools and Oxbridge and just two of the 38 Justices of Appeal attended state school. Milburn calls this "social engineering on a grand scale".
Given the advanced years of these legal top dogs, this might be seen as a reflection of the social exclusivity of a bygone age. But Milburn suggests the problem is continuing with just 21% of law undergraduates coming from the five lowest socio-economic groups (although figures for the LPC might have been more indicative, as a good percentage convert to law later).
Milburn had four recommendations for law firms:
1. Sort out current inclusion programmes and properly monitor their impacts.
2. Make these programmes sustainable.
3. Embed social mobility initiatives into "the fabric" of each firm.
4. Recruit from as many of the country's 115 universities as possible.
But overall, law came off pretty well compared to other professions, especially journalism which was panned for being the most socially exclusive. Milburn commended the Legal Services Board for its continued focus on social mobility and praised initiatives such as Addleshaws' which identifies less privileged candidates but talented candidates who don't have the requisite A-levels and fast tracks them onto the firm's summer scheme.
So it's two cheers for the profession. Some good work but much more to be done.
Tip Off ROF
The gist of the report is that the top jobs are still dominated by an elite: "the glass ceiling has been scratched but not broken". Milburn praised law firms for "being on the right track" and leading the field for social mobility initiatives but described progress as "too slow".
The top echelons of the professions yesterday |
The report criticised the top of the legal profession for being "dominated by a social elite", highlighting that 15 of 17 Supreme Court judges were educated at private schools and Oxbridge and just two of the 38 Justices of Appeal attended state school. Milburn calls this "social engineering on a grand scale".
Given the advanced years of these legal top dogs, this might be seen as a reflection of the social exclusivity of a bygone age. But Milburn suggests the problem is continuing with just 21% of law undergraduates coming from the five lowest socio-economic groups (although figures for the LPC might have been more indicative, as a good percentage convert to law later).
Milburn had four recommendations for law firms:
1. Sort out current inclusion programmes and properly monitor their impacts.
2. Make these programmes sustainable.
3. Embed social mobility initiatives into "the fabric" of each firm.
4. Recruit from as many of the country's 115 universities as possible.
But overall, law came off pretty well compared to other professions, especially journalism which was panned for being the most socially exclusive. Milburn commended the Legal Services Board for its continued focus on social mobility and praised initiatives such as Addleshaws' which identifies less privileged candidates but talented candidates who don't have the requisite A-levels and fast tracks them onto the firm's summer scheme.
So it's two cheers for the profession. Some good work but much more to be done.
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Social engineering already occurs which is why the proportion of independently educated partners in the city is stagerringly out of sorts with the rest of society. They are just recuiting the best I hear you say. Well yes I have no problem with that which is why this sceheme is aimed at school children to encourage them to reach their potential and have high ambitions, and go to the best universities. It is a noble thing.
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Have you ever met a solicitor at a City firm who was educated at an inner city Manchester comprehensive for example? The answer is almost certainly "no", even within Manchester, as they're as rare as rocking horse sh!t!
Law is all about relationships ultimately and so 90% or much higher percentage than currently should be based on what the candidate has done in work or outside of it in the real world, not whether they got straight As in qualifications that have become much easier over the last 10 years. It pretty much goes without saying that all candidates have passed the same qualifying exams in order to become an eligible trainee solicitor so concentrating so much attention on the minutiae of what could literally have been a few weaker scores is somewhat pig-headed and foolish.