Kornhauser on Occupational Segregation by Gender Among Law Professors

Marjorie E. Kornhauser (Tulane) has published Rooms of Their Own: An Empirical Study of Occupational Segregation by Gender Among Law Professors, 73 U.M.K.C. L. Rev. 293 (2005).  Here are her six general conclusions:

• The proportion of women to men law professors teaching the majority of courses listed by the AALS does not reflect the gender composition that would occur randomly. Rather, almost 80% of the courses have a gender disparity, defined as a statistically significant gender distortion.
• Despite a large increase in the overall proportion (or percentage) of female professors during the time span investigated, the number of courses with a gender disparity increased by more than 20%. This is contrary to the logical assumption that, all things being equal, gender disparity would narrow as the proportion of female professors approached parity with male professors.
• Over the same period more than 20% of the courses showed a statistically significant increase in the gender distortion. In contrast, only 5% of the courses experienced a statistically significant decrease.
• Courses that have a gender disparity generally have a gender identity, that is, they have characteristics that are commonly recognized as traditionally "male" or traditionally "female."
• Many courses that experienced a statistically significant change in the gender distortion tended to be courses that had, over time, experienced some change in gender traits, such as a change in prestige, thus altering the gender identity.
• Widening gender distortions suggest that for many courses gender identity intensifies over time and may lead to gender re-segregation.

The article has some interesting conclusions with respect to tax courses.  Federal Tax (not including Estate & Gift Tax or State & Local Tax) was a statistically significantly male dominated course both at the start and finish years of her study. Indeed, the gender disparity statistically widened over time. Estate & Gift Tax, on the other hand, did not have a statistically significant gender disparity, but there was a significant change in the gender composition over the years studied. At the start of the period, there was a slightly disproportionate number of women teaching the course, but by the end of the period gender had shifted so that a slightly disproportionate number of males were teaching it. Her theory for this shift is that Estate & Gift Tax became an increasingly prestigious area (perhaps due to its money making capacity in practice).

The article is part of a fascinating symposium issue.  The full table of contents is here.