The Legal Labour Market and the Training Needs of Women Returners in the United Kingdom

This article examines a particular instance of the relationship between gender, training provision and the labour market, namely the provision of training for women solicitors wishing to return to the labour market after a career break. The specific empirical material, which is gathered from a sample of women solicitors, both returners and non-returners, in West and North Yorkshire, is explored in the context of demand-side and supply-side explanations of women’s position in the labour market. However, we also argue for a perspective which takes account of the culture of the profession and which undermines the assumption of economic rationality underpinning many labour market studies. Similarly, our exploration of the potential of training for easing labour-market re-entry is evaluated within the context of the gendered ethos of the solicitor’s profession, as is the discussion of the curriculum design issues in professional women returners’ training which arise out of the research.