Taking Stock: Progress and Next Steps In this final episode of the series, we discuss what has been learnt by uncovering the stories of women in law and the light it sheds on current barriers to progress for women. The experience of women lawyers in public leadership roles, and what diversity means in achieving full […]

The Leaky Pipeline This a special live recorded episode of the podcast. To set the scene for this 9th episode we’ve reached the decade of the 2000’s. This first decade of the new millennium saw global financial instability and the credit crunch which sent profound shockwaves through the UK economy, and resulted in many redundancies […]

Widening the Pool The 1990’s saw the end of the economic boom and in the recession that followed career prospects in the legal sector became more uncertain for solicitors, both at the junior and senior end. Throughout the decade women began to play a greater role in public life. In 1994 the Church of England […]

Rising to the Top The 1980s were characterised by the premiership of Margaret Thatcher as the UK’s first woman Prime Minister. It was one which saw the Falkland’s War in 1982, prolonged and bitter trade union strikes, the right to buy policy on state home ownership, the privatization of nationalised industries and the deregulation of […]

Sex Discrimination Act: Equality in name? Discussing discrimination and the impact of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975. What was the experience of discrimination in the professions? To what extent did things change following the passing of the Act? Did the earlier Equal Pay Act 1970 have an impact for women trying to forge a career […]

My Lord becomes My Lady The 1960’s was a time of profound social change. The abolition of capital punishment, legalisation of homosexuality and abortion, the introduction of the contraceptive pill, and the Married Women’s Property Act affected women's rights in everyday life. More girls than ever before went on to higher education and in 1962 […]

A Hostile Culture Join host Lucinda Acland and guests for a discussion of the 1950s, characterised by a post-war growing economy and technological advances. After the war, working women either returned to the home or were squeezed back into lower paid positions. Women’s status overall declined and the gender wage gap increased. The culture of […]

Sitting in Judgment: Women Magistrates and Jurors Join host Lucinda Acland and guests for a discussion of the 1940s, the impact of World War Two in the perception of women in the world of work and for women in the legal profession, the progress and involvement of women in legal academia, rising through the ranks […]

The ‘Firsts’: Gaining a Foothold Join host Lucinda Acland and guests for a discussion of the first few pioneering female lawyers, and their experiences during the early years of women being allowed to practice law. Special Guests: Elizabeth Cruickshank – Former solicitor in London, now writer about the lives and experiences of women solicitors, especially […]

Sacred Year or Dead Letter? The first in the series, this podcast discusses the decade from 1919-1929. Join host Lucinda Acland and guests for a discussion of the fight that led up to the legal change in 1919. What impacted the law, and what was its impact? How did the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 […]