Gendered Career Paths in Law: Recent Evidence from a Survey of Urban Lawyers

In this paper, we use data from a random-sample survey of urban lawyers (the Chicago Lawyers II Study) to examine gender difference in first job after law school as well as in current position in the legal profession. Our analysis tests competing theories of gender segregation within the law, which can be grouped into two main categories. Choice-based theories - including human capital theory and sex-role socialization theory - emphasize women's active and voluntary choice of some occupational settings over others. Theories of institutional constraint, by contrast, view gender segregation as the product of structural obstacles confronting women in male-dominated fields. We find that gender is a significant predictor of both first position and current position in law, even after controlling for other relevant variables such as law school background, racial/ethnic identity, socioeconomic background, experience, family status, and leaves of absence. We find that women are significantly more likely to start their careers in government, public interest work, and legal education. Gender is also a significant predictor of current position in law, even after controlling for first position, which is also highly significant, and other relevant variables. Women are significantly less likely to be working in private practice (solo or firm) and significantly more likely to be employed in government, public interest law, legal education, internal counsel, or nonlegal positions. These findings suggest that where one starts out in law matters a great deal for later career trajectory, but gender differences in first jobs after law school do not fully explain the persistence of gender segregation at later career stages. The patterns appear to be a product of 1) women's ongoing efforts to balance the competing demands of work and family over the course of their careers, 2) persistent effects of sex-role socialization across career trajectories, and 3) various obstacles that push women away from some work settings and toward others. Future analyses will attempt to elaborate on these explanations.