Women in the legal profession are still underrepresented in senior roles, according to new research from the International Bar Association (IBA).

Although women in the law make up 51% of the profession in England and Wales, they only occupy 32% of senior roles. This is despite 95% of research respondents’ workplaces having gender parity initiatives in place.

In the judiciary, 43% of all judges were women but they held only 26% of senior positions.

The public sector had the highest percentage of women lawyers overall at 64%, followed by corporate in-house teams at 59%. Half of lawyers in law firms were female but only 31% were in senior roles.

Barristers’ chambers had the fewest overall number of female lawyers at 32%.

Flexible working, coaching and mentoring, and unconscious bias training were all initiatives that were popular with respondents, with flexible working in particular singled out as “very effective”.

Quota setting was the least popular gender parity initiative, despite being perceived to be “somewhat effective” by 60% of respondents.

The IBA’s research, released in collaboration with the LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation, is part of the project 50:50 by 2030 – A Longitudinal Study into Gender Disparity in Law, which was launched on International Women’s Day last year.

The nine-year-study is being conducted across 16 jurisdictions with the aim of uncovering the root causes of gender inequality at senior levels across the legal profession. Its aim is to identify the barriers preventing women from reaching seniority, address the impact of diversity initiatives and design a blueprint for gender parity.