As Definition of Diversity Expands, Hiring of Racial Minorities Stalls

Law firms remain 81% white; Walmart’s evolving description of a diverse workforce

Long before “anti-woke” became a campaign slogan, or the Supreme Court shot down affirmative action initiatives at universities, progress toward hiring more Black lawyers into U.S. law firms had largely stalled. The demographic made up 3% of all firm lawyers in 2010, hovered lower for most of the following decade and ended 2019 at 3.31%, according to research by the National Association for Law Placement. By contrast, representation of LGBTQ lawyers rose to 2.99% from 1.88% in the same period. Women comprised 36.33% of lawyers at firms in 2019, up from 32.69% in 2010.

A national movement toward a broader definition of inclusiveness — commitments to oppose discrimination beyond that aimed at racial minorities — may have limited the opportunities for Black lawyers, a study forthcoming in Academy of Management Discoveries suggests. As most major employers broadened diversity definitions to incorporate more underrepresented groups, law firms hired proportionally fewer lawyers who were racial minorities, according to the findings.

The study was conducted by Columbia’s Modupe Akinola, Babson College’s Tina Opie, Deloitte Canada’s Geoffrey C. Ho, Resilient Resource Groups’ Safiya Castel, UCLA Anderson’s Miguel M. Unzueta, Columbia’s Ariella Kristal, Villanova’s Flannery G. Stevens, University of Utah’s Arthur P. Brief and Columbia’s Nicholas D. Zambrotta.

Appearance of Nonlegal Groups in Diversity Statements

The researchers analyzed diversity statements and firm demographics at about 3,000 law offices between the years 2010 and 2019. Most major employers, including all Fortune 500 corporations, publicly post diversity statements meant to impress clients and recruits alike with commitments to hiring diverse workforces.

Traditionally, diversity statements aimed to eliminate discrimination only on the basis of age, race, religion and gender, as these categories had legal protections. But corporations began adding nonlegal classes to their diversity promises as early as the 1980s, according to other research cited in the Management Studies paper.

For example, the study points out a 2005 Walmart statement that highlights its diversity commitment by reciting the number of employees who were female, African American, Hispanic and over the age of 55. By 2017, the company defined the goal as “a workforce or community with unique styles, experiences, identities, ideas and opinions.” Included in the report are testimonials from a bisexual mother and a military veteran who suffers from post traumatic stress disorder, alongside comments from other employees that fall into legally protected classes.

More Groups in a Diversity Statement, Fewer Racial Minorities Employed

The overwhelming majority of law firms updated diversity statements between 2010 and 2019; in many cases, multiple times, the research team found. Some 83% of the sample added nonlegal categories to their diversity commitments, applauding differences in areas such as culture, communication style, perspective and personalities. (Although often vague in wording, such additions are meant to profess support for specific groups, such as LGBTQ, neurodivergent individuals and those from disadvantaged backgrounds.)

The number of nonlegal categories in a law firm’s diversity statement was a significant predictor of its percentage of racial minority employees, the study finds. In general, every nonlegal class included indicated a significantly lower percentage of racial minorities employed, according to the findings.

Changes in diversity statements did not appear to affect employment of women at law firms, the researchers note. 

The fall-off in racial minority hirings may be an unexpected consequence of firm efforts at fairness, the researchers speculate. Broader diversity definitions shift attention away from the lingering problem of a lack of racial minorities at the firm by focusing hiring efforts across numerous groups

A less charitable explanation, they note, would be that firms broaden diversity statements to reach diversity goals not achieved by hiring racial minorities. Law remains one of the least racially diverse professions in the country, with white lawyers constituting 81% of those practicing in 2022, according to the American Bar Association. 

The findings come amid reports that law firms, banks and other large employers are backing away from long established programs meant to recruit racial minorities. In the past two years, some large employers have changed the rules of their diversity programs by opening them up to most applicants, regardless of race, according to reports by The Wall Street Journal and the employer rating company Glassdoor. 

Generally, women and racial minorities have gained proportionately more jobs at law firms since 2019. But NALP points out that Black and biracial law students landed fewer summer associate positions in 2023 than in 2022. The programs, which are paid positions typically filled by upper-level law students, are key resume builders for winning full associate jobs upon graduation.