Reproducing Gender on Law School Faculties

Abstract

This article demonstrates that there is a gender divide on law school faculties. Women work in inferior sex-segregated jobs and teach a disproportionate percentage of female-identified courses. More than 80% of law school deans are men. Men teach the more prestigious male-identified courses. Women suffer from differential expectations from colleagues and students and often bear the brunt of their colleagues' bullying behaviors at work. Using masculinities studies and other social science research to identify gendered structures, practices, and behaviors that harm women law professors, this article provides a theoretical framework to explain why women in the legal academy do not enjoy status equal to that of their male colleagues. Many of these practices appear to be gender-neutral, but tacitly perpetuate stereotypes and segregation that is harmful to women. This article makes visible the gendered nature of these structures and practices and challenges the notion of natural difference or "choice" as a cause of the disparity between men and women law professors. It concludes that only by making these gendered practices visible will women attain equal status on law school faculties.

Keywords: gender, law school, faculty, masculinities, stereotypes, work, labor, employment discrimination, legal academy, legal writing, clinic, associate dean

JEL Classification: K31, K39, K10, K19, D23, I20, J00, J16, J70, J71, J78, M51