The New Glass Ceiling

Andrea Kupfer Schneider (Cardozo), Abigail R. Bogli (Quarles & Brady, Milwaukee) & Hannah L. Chin (School District of Whitefish Bay), The New Glass Ceiling, 2024 Wis. L. Rev. 1687:

Until the last decade, gender inequality in the legal profession was self-evident. Law school classrooms and law firm offices were overwhelmingly filled with men. In recent years, women have outnumbered men in law school classes and reached parity with men among first-year associates. These developments have created the misperception that gender equality has been achieved. In this Article, we challenge this complacency. 

We present new evidence from a detailed case study of law firms in a midsize city, showing that women remain underrepresented in leadership roles and underpaid relative to their colleagues. We then show how the limited opportunities and lower pay women receive at law firms explain why so many have left. We argue that the movement for gender equality in the law should shift its focus from hiring to attrition. We provide crucial, incisive questions that law school students and career service offices can use to better investigate the problem, especially as students contemplate career decisions. By asking these questions, we believe candidates can more accurately sense what the law firm experience might entail. Through this process, we believe that students can act as a force for change. 

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