scholarly journals Male, Pale, and Stale? Diversity in Lawyers’ Leadership

Author(s):  
Noel Semple

Abstract When lawyers elect the leaders of their self-regulatory organizations, what sort of people do they vote for? How do the selection processes for elite lawyer sub-groups affect the diversity and efficacy of those groups? This article quantitatively assesses the demographic and professional diversity of leadership in the Law Society of Upper Canada. After many years of underrepresentation, in 2015 visible minority members and women were elected in numbers proportionate to their shares of Ontario lawyers. Regression analysis suggests that being non-white was not a disadvantage in the 2015 election, and being female actually conferred an advantage in attracting lawyers’ votes. The diverse employment contexts of the province’s lawyers were also represented in the elected group. However, early-career lawyers were completely unrepresented. This is largely a consequence of electoral system design choices, and can be remedied through the implementation of career-stage constituencies. The Law Society’s “benchers” are more demographically diverse than other elite lawyer sub-groups, such as judges, and the open and transparent selection process may be part of the reason.

Author(s):  
Fiona Buckley ◽  
Mary Brennan

This chapter considers the implementation and effect of legislative gender quotas in the 2016 general election, a first for Ireland and a first for the proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote electoral system (PR-STV). It focuses on political parties and examines how they integrated the formal gender quota law into their candidate selection processes. Particular attention is paid to whether the law changed existing candidate selection practices, many of which are guided by informal candidate selection norms, such as a preference for incumbents and those exhibiting localist traits. The chapter concludes that the gender quota law did engender change in the candidate recruitment, selection, and election of women, but, as scholars of feminist institutionalism would describe, the change was ‘nested’ and ‘bounded’ within existing practices surrounding candidate selection, thereby denting but not dismantling the gendered norms of this process.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tinuola B. Ajayi ◽  
Christy D. Remein ◽  
Randall S. Stafford ◽  
Angela Fagerlin ◽  
Mina K. Chung ◽  
...  

Background: It is estimated that over 46 million individuals have atrial fibrillation (AF) worldwide, and the incidence and prevalence of AF are increasing globally. There is an urgent need to accelerate the academic development of scientists possessing the skills to conduct innovative, collaborative AF research. Methods: We designed and implemented a virtual AF Strategically Focused Research Network Cross-Center Fellowship program to enhance the competencies of early-stage AF basic, clinical, and population health researchers through experiential education and mentorship. The pedagogical model involves significant cross-center collaboration to produce a curriculum focused on enhancing AF scientific competencies, fostering career/professional development, and cultivating grant writing skills. Outcomes for success involve clear expectations for fellows to produce manuscripts, presentations, and—for those at the appropriate career stage–grant applications. We evaluated the effectiveness of the fellowship model via mixed methods formative and summative surveys. Results: In 2 years of the fellowship, fellows generally achieved the productivity metrics sought by our pedagogical model, with outcomes for the 12 fellows including 50 AF-related manuscripts, 7 publications, 28 presentations, and 3 grant awards applications. Participant evaluations reported that the fellowship effectively met its educational objectives. All fellows reported medium to high satisfaction with the overall fellowship, webinar content and facilitation, staff communication and support, and program organization. Conclusions: The fellowship model represents an innovative educational strategy by providing a virtual AF training and mentoring curriculum for early-career basic, clinical, and population health scientists working across multiple institutions, which is particularly valuable in the pandemic era.


Genetics ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 154 (4) ◽  
pp. 1851-1864 ◽  
Author(s):  
John A Woolliams ◽  
Piter Bijma

AbstractTractable forms of predicting rates of inbreeding (ΔF) in selected populations with general indices, nonrandom mating, and overlapping generations were developed, with the principal results assuming a period of equilibrium in the selection process. An existing theorem concerning the relationship between squared long-term genetic contributions and rates of inbreeding was extended to nonrandom mating and to overlapping generations. ΔF was shown to be ~¼(1 − ω) times the expected sum of squared lifetime contributions, where ω is the deviation from Hardy-Weinberg proportions. This relationship cannot be used for prediction since it is based upon observed quantities. Therefore, the relationship was further developed to express ΔF in terms of expected long-term contributions that are conditional on a set of selective advantages that relate the selection processes in two consecutive generations and are predictable quantities. With random mating, if selected family sizes are assumed to be independent Poisson variables then the expected long-term contribution could be substituted for the observed, providing ¼ (since ω = 0) was increased to ½. Established theory was used to provide a correction term to account for deviations from the Poisson assumptions. The equations were successfully applied, using simple linear models, to the problem of predicting ΔF with sib indices in discrete generations since previously published solutions had proved complex.


Author(s):  
Oryza Putri Suriana ◽  
Alfan Reynaldo ◽  
Muhammad Dwi Ferdian Suwardi ◽  
Indra Kusumadi Hartono

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 245-248
Author(s):  
Lillian Ng ◽  
Richard Steane ◽  
Natalie Scollay ◽  
Stephen Harris ◽  
Jasminka Milosevic ◽  
...  

Objective: To capture the voices of psychiatrists as they reflect on challenges at the early stages of the career trajectory. Method: Early career psychiatrists contributed reflections that identified various challenges in the transition from trainee to consultant psychiatrist. Results: Common difficulties included negotiating role transition and conflict. Specific events had deep impact such as involvement with a patient who had committed suicide. Conclusions: Challenges in the early career stage as a consultant psychiatrist may have lasting or career defining impact. Written reflection is a valuable tool that can impart collective learning, provide validation and engender support among peers.


2018 ◽  
Vol 169 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-73
Author(s):  
Naomi Sayers

The Law Society of Ontario (formerly, the Law Society of Upper Canada) oversees the legal profession in Ontario, Canada, through The Rules of Professional Conduct (‘Rules’). All future lawyers and paralegals must adhere to the Rules. The Law Society sometimes provides guidance on sample policies informed by the Rules. In this article, the author closely examines the Law Society’s guidance on social media. The author argues that this guidance fails to understand how the Rules regulate experiences out of the legal profession and fails to see the positive possibilities of social media to influence social change, especially in ways that conflict with the colonial legal system. The author concludes that the Law Society must take a positive approach and provide some guidance for the legal profession on their social media use, especially around critiquing the colonial legal system. This positive approach is essential to avoid duplicating the systems and structures that perpetuate disadvantage in marginalized communities.


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