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18 Duke J. Gender L. & Pol'y 1 (2010-2011)
Implicit Gender Bias in the Legal Profession: An Empirical Study

handle is hein.journals/djglp18 and id is 3 raw text is: Implicit Gender Bias in the Legal Profession: An Empirical Study JUSTIN D. LEVINSON* & DANIELLE YOUNG** ABSTRACT Commentators have marveled at the continuing lack of gender diversity in the legal profession's most influential and honored positions. After achieving near equal numbers of male and female law school graduates for approximately two decades, the gap between men and women in law firms, legal academia, and the judiciary remains stark. Several scholars have argued that due to negative stereotypes portraying women either as workplace cutthroats or, conversely, as secretaries or housewives, decision-makers continue to subordinate women to men in the highest levels of the legal profession. Despite these compelling arguments, no empirical studies have tested whether implicit gender bias might explain the disproportionately low number of women attorneys in leadership roles. In order to test the hypothesis that implicit gender bias drives the continued subordination of women in the legal profession, we designed and conducted an empirical study. The study tested whether law students hold implicit gender biases related to women in the legal profession, and further tested whether these implicit biases predict discriminatory decision-making. The results of the study were both concerning and hopeful. As predicted, we found that implicit biases were pervasive; a diverse group of both male and female law students implicitly associated judges with men, not women, and also associated women with the home and family. Yet the results of the remaining portions of the study offered hope. Participants were frequently able to resist their implicit biases and make decisions in gender neutral ways. Taken together, the results of the study highlight two conflicting sides of the ongoing gender debate: first, that the power of implicit gender biases persists, even in the next generation of lawyers; and second, that the emergence of a new generation of egalitarian law students may offer some hope for the future. INTRODUCTION Commentators have marveled at the continuing lack of gender diversity in the legal profession's most influential and honored positions. The passage of time, for years cited as a reason for hope, has failed to put a major dent in the huge disparities in both career advancement and pay. After achieving near * Associate Professor of Law and Director, Culture and Jury Project, University of Hawai'i at Manoa. The authors would like to thank Susan Serrano, Kapua Sproat, Galit Levinson, and Dina Shek for their input on previous drafts. Sara Ayabe and Jenelle Hughes contributed outstanding research assistance. Dean Aviam Soifer provided generous summer research support to the first author. ** Department of Psychology, University of Hawai'i at Manoa. 1

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