Unconscious bias, work-life imbalances and male-oriented networking are the main barriers to gender equality and female progression in the legal industry, a new report by the The Law Society of England and Wales has found.

The report, published this month, surveyed 7,718 lawyers from around the world and held roundtable discussions with an additional 700 lawyers.

More than half (52%) of respondents said unconscious biases are the main barrier to women's career progression in law, and just 11% said their organisations offer consistent training to recognise and tackle the problem.

Meanwhile, 49% of respondents said the legal profession offered an unacceptable work-life balance, with the overwhelming majority (91%) stating that a flexible working culture is "critical" to improving diversity in the profession.

Additionally, almost half (46%) of respondents agreed that traditional networking activities are too male-oriented to aid a woman's career progression.

While half of the survey's respondents believed progress had been made towards gender equality in the profession during the past five years, that perception differed significantly depending on the respondent's gender.

Some 74% of male respondents believed progress had been made, compared to less than half (48%) of women.

One participant in the roundtable talks said in the report: "Men are concerned about how to deal with inappropriate behaviours and older men are also struggling to reconcile their outdated gender models they had in place over the last 60 years."

The report recommends more men in the profession become champions for change and commit to lead by example, as well as a zero-tolerance approach for sexual harassment.