Female Attorneys vs Male Attorneys Longitudinally Depicted in West and East Coast Law Magazines

This study evaluated the differences in male and female representation in six different United States law magazines issued from 2005-2017. The initial prediction was that women would appear less often than men in these journals. Four periodicals came from Republican-dominated states, including the Arizona Attorney, Duke Law (NC), S.J. Quinney’s Res Gestae (UT), and the Notre Dame Lawyer (IN) (no issues published in 2014 through 2016). Two of these magazines were from Democratic regions: Berkeley’s Boalt Hall Transcript (now known as Transcript) (CA) and Richmond Law (VA). Photographic depictions of people within the magazines were recorded, only if text directly referenced the individual(s) as being a lawyer (i.e., attorney, public defender, counselor, associate, and lawyer). The number of male and female depictions in each journal were totaled, and means were compared. The data showed that women were underrepresented in all six of the journals, with effect sizes varying from medium to large. It was also found that although the unequal representation was evident in both red and blue states, the inequity gap was much larger in the red states. Overall, this data supports the notion that depictions of women are underrepresented in law magazines in a profession where they make up half of law school graduates as well as students preparing to enter the legal workforce. However, the gender percentages of those who pass the Bar exam would need to be examined to know more. This lack of parity in gender representations is likely due to society’s stereotypical views of women’s and men’s roles in the context of male-dominated professions, but it also seems to be exacerbated, in part, by a state’s political affiliation. This potential equality issue may have gone unnoticed if it weren’t for research that looks into gender differences, such as this study, which should be taken further by others to gather more data on possible discrimination and produce necessary solutions.