Gendered patterns in elite legal careers: men ascend through stability, women through mobility

Abstract This article examines how elite legal professionals in Norway navigate career pathways in the male-dominated field of tax law. We shift the focus from explaining women’s underrepresentation in elite positions to understanding how those who succeed reach them, exploring sectoral stability and mobility in careers and narratives of career decisions and strategic navigation across sectors. Using a mixed-methods design—combining sequence analysis of career paths with qualitative interviews—we identify significant gendered patterns. Men more often ascend through stable careers within a single sector, typically law firms or the Tax Administration, whereas women more frequently reach elite positions through cross-sectoral mobility. Women strategically accumulate and mobilize sector-specific capital to attain top positions, often timing their career moves with family commitments. These divergent paths highlight persistent structural inequalities in the legal field: men can rely on loyalty and internal promotion, while women must navigate more complex routes to achieve comparable prestige and rewards. Yet women have turned what was once a liability—leaving law firms for more flexible roles—into a resource, strategically using mobility to remain within the legal elite.