Perception of Discrimination in the Legal Profession

Perception of discrimination in the legal profession Author: Sabrina Collins Faculty: Dr. Laura Moyer Department of Political Science Historically, the legal profession has been dominated by white men. Over time, the barriers hindering diverse participation have been somewhat lifted. In recent years, law schools enrolled equal percentages of men and women, and the number of minority students has also increased. So, how has the legal profession adapted to these changes? The hiring of women and minorities in the field of law does not reflect the increasing diversity seen in law school. Today, only 36% of lawyers are women and less than 10% of the American Bar Association represents racial minorities. While existing research shows discrimination present in the field of law, few studies have examined the relationship between an attorney’s practice area and experiences of discrimination. In general, literature suggests that masculine-typed specializations may be seen as more prestigious than feminine-typed practice areas. Such differences in prestige were hypothesized to impact employee’s job satisfaction within gendered specializations. It is expected that masculine-typed areas of law create less inclusive work environments; therefore, we hypothesized that individuals of minority groups working in these specializations would report more race, age, and gender discrimination as well as lower job satisfaction relative to attorneys in feminine-associated areas. Using an existing data set of practicing attorneys in North Carolina, we explored the degree to which reported levels of job satisfaction and perceived race, age, and gender discrimination varied across gendered areas of law. Our analysis contributes to the scholarly dialogue about intersectionality by demonstrating how age intersects with other identities to create unique experiences. The findings of our study can help us understand how the complexities of employment discrimination are not captured well by legal protections that view race, gender, and age discrimination as unconnected phenomena