Ms Toyin Bashorun attributes it to women having to head home to mind the family after office hours while men can go out and network over a pint of beer.

She made the point when lawyers from across the globe were discussing pay discrimination and glass ceilings facing women lawyers.

The subject was one of a host of issues covered at various sessions yesterday, the second day of a week-long conference of the International Bar Association attended by about 4,000 legal practitioners from 120 countries.

Two other speakers shed light on how the problem was being tackled: Let women take time out for a few years to raise children and introduce work flexibility.

Ms Rachel Levitan said women at her Israeli law firm Levitan, Sharon & Co can leave the office by 3.30pm, but must clock 71/2 hours like everyone else.

No meetings are held after 5pm, added Ms Levitan, whose firm has a set of women-friendly practices.

In the United States, law firms are letting women take say, five years off to be stay-at-home mums, said Ms Karen Mathis, past president of the American Bar Association.

They also encourage the women to keep up-to-date so that they can return to their previous positions.

Fuelling the change is the shortage of lawyers, she added.

The session also discussed the effectiveness of anti-discriminatory laws in producing change and the need for more experienced women lawyers to mentor their younger colleagues.

Some participants said women who made it to the top by their own hard work may adopt a 'queen bee syndrome' and not help others move up.

Women could also do better at setting goals and strategising how to achieve them, said Ms Bashorun, adding that they tend to focus on solving the problems at hand.

Another way for women to bring about change, said Ms Mathis, is to organise themselves and enlist the help of outsiders to press for change. They can do it by pointing out that other big cities have better non-discriminatory practices.

'It's the fear of the sneer of the peer,' she said.