(Reuters) - Law firms brought on a historically diverse cohort of summer associates in 2021, according to new data from the National Association for Law Placement (NALP), outpacing diversity gains among more senior lawyers. The proportion of summer associates of color climbed to 41% in 2021, up from 36% in 2020. That represents the largest year-over-year increase since NALP began tracking this data in 1993, it said. Summer associates work at law firms after their first or second year of law school and are typically offered permanent associate jobs afterward. Much of 2021"s summer associate diversity gains were among women. The proportion who were women of color increased 3% to a quarter of all summer law students hired to work in the more than 500 law firm offices that reported figures to NALP. The report says the national protests that followed the murder of George Floyd in the summer of 2020 — and subsequent pledges by many law firms to fight racism and improve their diversity — likely contributed to increased hiring of minority summer associates. “Without doubt, this summer associate class was the most diverse ever measured in every way,” said NALP executive director Jim Leipold in the report. Women comprised 55% of all summer associates in 2021, marking the fourth straight year that they were in the majority, the data show. The percentage of LGBTQ summer associates increased nearly one percentage point to 8.4% of last year’s summer associates. But the data show more incremental progress in 2021 on diversity within the associate and partner ranks — an indication that the legal profession has a long way to go before the attorney ranks reflect the diversity of the national population. Among the firms that submitted data to NALP, lawyers of color accounted for slightly less than 28% of all associates in 2021, and slightly less than 11% of law firm partners. Increases in the representation of Asian and Latino associates and partners has helped to obscure much slower growth among Black associates and partners, according to NALP. Black lawyers accounted for 5% of associates in 2021, and 2% of partners. “The challenge for the industry is to retain, train, develop and promote this talented and diverse pool of new lawyers so that five years from now the associate ranks as a whole reflect similar diversity and representation, and 10 or 15 years from now we can celebrate a partnership class that is similarly diverse,” Leipold said.