Hierarchical structure and gender dissimilarity in american legal labor markets

Ronit Dinovitzer, John Hagan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

24 Scopus citations

Abstract

Research on inequality in the legal profession underemphasizes the macro-level factors that structure legal work. This paper introduces two measures that characterize local legal labor markets. The index of gender dissimilarity is the proportion of women required to move into the private law firm sector from the public sector to create gender balance. The index of hierarchical market structure is defined by a concentration of elite law graduates, highly leveraged law firms, lucrative billings, and corporate clients. Women's salaries increase more rapidly than men's in these markets, yet men continue to out-earn women. Furthermore, HLM models indicate that in labor markets with greater gender dissimilarity, women's wages are significantly depressed. We explain this in terms of mechanisms of opportunity hoarding and exploitation (Tilly 1998).

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)929-955
Number of pages27
JournalSocial Forces
Volume92
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2014

Funding

This research was supported by grants from the American Bar Foundation, National Science Foundation (Grant No. SES0115521 and SES0550605), Access Group, Law School Admission Council, National Association for Law Placement, National Conference of Bar Examiners, and the Open Society Institute. The views and conclusions stated herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of individuals or organizations associated with the After the JD (AJD) study.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • History
  • Anthropology
  • Sociology and Political Science

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