Women in a Male-Dominated Profession: The Women Lawyers (From Criminal Justice System and Women, P 385-397, 1982, Barbara Raffel Price and Natalie J Sokoloff, eds. -- See NCJ-115340)

• NCJ Number: 115359
• Author(s): M Patterson; L Engelberg
• Date Published: 1982
• Length: 13 pages
• Sale Source: Clark Boardman Company, Ltd
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS. From Women Working: Theories and Facts in Perspective, Ann Stromberg and Shirley Harkess, eds., 1978, Mayfield Publishing Co.

Annotation

Professions that offer economic and political power to their members have been male domains generally closed to women.

Abstract

In the legal profession, the exclusion of women starts with law school admission, where they are more severely scrutinized than men and must outperform them scholastically. At graduation, women tend to have greater difficulty finding jobs in law firms. On the job, women receive lower pay and are more likely to specialize in criminal law -- one of the lowest paying specialties -- while men dominate in the more prestigious and lucrative specialties. Women represent a small minority in the profession, and their role can be characterized as marginal. In addition to these barriers, women lawyers still bear the primary burden of childrearing. Faced with conflicting sex-role demands, women lawyers must generally be more attentive to career management than to career development. Since the late 1960's, more women are entering the professions and professional women have focused public attention on inequities and the need for change. 39 footnotes. (Author abstract modified)