ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the phenomenon in the context of the parallel changes taking place in the profession, and identifies the means whereby the marginalisation of women lawyers is effected. It argues that social closure against women in the profession is being reinforced through the notion of ‘commitment’ as a core criterion for participation in the primary legal labour market. Consequently, the professional subject is gendered in such a way as to render women’s marginal position the apparent consequence of their own ‘choice’. The continuous need to demonstrate commitment also clearly affected employee behaviour. Many women referred to the need to obtain promotion or partnership before having children, because even if only a short maternity leave was taken. The chapter considers the ideological construct of ‘commitment’: first in terms of its own logical inconsistencies; secondly by reviewing the alternative models of professional commitment, before finally theorising the use of commitment as a gendered device for social closure.
