Plenary Session: Legal Education

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Session Type: AALS Programs

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For the first half of the twentieth century, women faculty were virtually absent from law schools. Since the 1970s, the
number and percentages of women in tenure-track, tenured, and non-tenure track law faculty positions have grown significantly. In the early 2000s, AALS data regarding the achievement of tenure revealed that the tenure gap between male and female law faculty had nearly closed. Today, many women lead law schools as Deans and Associate Deans. Yet, women in administrative and law teaching positions of all types—podium, clinical, legal writing, and adjunct—still face innumerable obstacles in their jobs due to gender bias and stereotypes. Professors and Deans on this Roundtable will engage in a lively discussion concerning the many forms of gender inequality in law schools. In so doing, they will draw upon empirical data and personal experience to address various forms of intersectional bias based on gender, race, sexual orientation, disability, age, and socioeconomic class. They also will consider strategies for tackling these systemic gender-related problems in law teaching.