Persistence Despite Change: The Academic Gender Gap in Australian Law Schools

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Angela Melville ◽  
Amy Barrow

Prior research has shown that while women have entered the legal profession in increasing numbers, the profession continues to privilege the norms, beliefs, and cultural practices of men. However, one aspect of the legal profession that has largely been overlooked, especially in Australia, is legal academia. This oversight is significant as legal academia provides the gateway into the legal profession. Women now make up approximately half of universities’ academic staff, are increasingly completing doctorate qualifications, and are moving into senior positions within academia. On the surface, these changes may suggest that women are now fully integrated into academia and that the academic gender gap has now resolved. We argue, however, that numerical inclusion does not necessarily challenge the male normative structures that underlie legal academia. This article draws on analysis of the biographies of seven hundred legal academics in Australian law schools and investigates differences between male and female legal academics in terms of level of appointment, academic qualifications and professional experience, research productivity, research interests, and mobility. It shows that while the gender gap has closed in some areas, the feminization of legal academia is a myth and female academics continue to face gendered barriers.

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Marwa Shalaby ◽  
Nermin Allam ◽  
Gail J. Buttorff

ABSTRACT This article explores the differential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the productivity of male and female academics and whether the ongoing health crisis will exacerbate further the existing gender gap in academia in both the short and long terms. We present early evidence of the pandemic’s disproportionate effect on women’s research productivity using online survey data supplemented by interview data with regional and international female political scientists. The interviews and survey findings reveal gender disparities in perceived research productivity and service workloads during the pandemic. The results also shed initial light on the pandemic’s impact on the research productivity of academics who are parents, especially among women.


Author(s):  
Sumeer Gul ◽  
Sangita Gupta ◽  
Sumaira Jan ◽  
Sabha Ali

The study endeavors to highlight the contribution of women in the field of Political research globally. The study is based on the data gathered from journal, Political Analysis which comprises a list of articles published by authors for the period, 2004-2014. The proportion of the male and female authors listed in the publication was ascertained. There exists a colossal difference among male and female researchers in the field of Political Science research, which is evident from the fact that 88.30% of publications are being contributed by male authors while as just 11.70 % of publications are contributed by female authors. Furthermore, citation analysis reveals that highest number of citations is for the male contributions. In addition, the collaborative pattern indicates that largest share of the collaboration is between male-male authors. This evidently signifies that female researchers are still lagging behind in the field of Political Science research in terms of research productivity (publications)and thus, accordingly, need to excel in that particular field to overcome the gender difference. The study highlights status of women contribution in the Journal of Political Analysis from the period 2004-2014. The study provides a wider perspective of female research-contribution based on select parameters. However, the study can be further be enriched by taking into consideration various other criteria like what obstacles are faced by female researchers impeding their research, what are the effects of age and marital status on the research-productivity of female authors, etc.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 317
Author(s):  
Ismael Cabero ◽  
Irene Epifanio

This paper presents a snapshot of the distribution of time that Spanish academic staff spend on different tasks. We carry out a statistical exploratory study by analyzing the responses provided in a survey of 703 Spanish academic staff in order to draw a clear picture of the current situation. This analysis considers many factors, including primarily gender, academic ranks, age, and academic disciplines. The tasks considered are divided into smaller activities, which allows us to discover hidden patterns. Tasks are not only restricted to the academic world, but also relate to domestic chores. We address this problem from a totally new perspective by using machine learning techniques, such as cluster analysis. In order to make important decisions, policymakers must know how academic staff spend their time, especially now that legal modifications are planned for the Spanish university environment. In terms of the time spent on quality of teaching and caring tasks, we expose huge gender gaps. Non-recognized overtime is very frequent.


Author(s):  
Caroline Henry ◽  
Nor Azura Md Ghani ◽  
Umi Marshida Abd Hamid ◽  
Ahmad Naqiyuddin Bakar

<span>Research Productivity (RP) is the key element in the establishment of ranking and rating system in the Higher Education (HE) sector. Despite of the many initiatives taken to enliven the research culture among academic staff, there are still constraints and resistance towards conducting research. Therefore, this study attempts to identify the factors affecting RP and develop an appropriate model to determine the RP of an academic staff in Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM). In this study, 5 research related indicators were used in the determination of RP. Since the population size of UiTM is large, the primary data was collected by using questionnaire survey and stratified random sampling. The variables that were found to be significant in determining RP of an academic staff were age cohort, highest qualification, cluster and track emphasis. Satisfaction towards annual KPI, UiTM current policy and monthly income were also found to influence the RP of an academic staff. In addition, perceiving the role of principal investigator as a chore and burden and supervising and graduating a PhD student perception as burden and pleasure were also found to be affecting RP. Using these variables, Logistic Regression Model was used to determine the RP of an academic staff in UiTM. In conclusion, personal, environmental and behavioural factors were found to have influence on the RP among academic staff of UiTM. Therefore, generally it is possible to maximize the RP of academic staff by identifying the factors influencing RP followed by strategic management and proper monitoring system.</span>


2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 253
Author(s):  
Nurdeni Dahri

Biological differences between men and women have in the implementation of social and cultural life. There has been a gender gap due to the multiplicity of interpretations of the notion of gender itself. In-depth research is needed to determine the cause of the gap, let alone Islam declared the doctrine that leads to gender bias. Based on the discussion in this paper is declared Gender division of roles and responsibilities between women and men as a result of socio-cultural construction of society, which can be changed according to the demands of the changing times. While sex (gender: male and female) are not changed and the nature of God. In the teachings of Islam there is no difference between women and men in all its aspects, distinguishing only charity and piety


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 202-211
Author(s):  
Najibullah Totakhiel

This research aims to find the size of the gender gap in education in the ten provinces of the Eastern Region (ER) and the South-Eastern Region (SER) of Afghanistan. Based on the World Economic Forum (WEF) approach to the gender gap, the study measures the educational gender gap index (EGGI) at both the regional and provincial level. The study found that the regional EGGI is 0.30. This means that 70% of the gender gap remains. The EGGI in the ER is 0.35, while in the SER it is 0.25, which means that 65% and 75% of the gender gap remains in the ER and the SER respectively. Thus, the gap is smaller in the ER than in the SER. At the provincial level, the best performing province is Nangarhar, where 42% of the gap has been closed. The worst performing province is Wardak, where only 15% of the gap has been closed. Of the six sub-indexes of the EGGI which were calculated from the primary data, the largest gender disparity is in the enrolment in tertiary level education, which has a gap of 69%. The second largest gap is 55% for the number of male and female schools. Both middle school enrolment and teacher gender ratio have similar sized gaps of 53%. The gaps for enrolment in primary education and secondary education are lower, at 30% and 43% respectively. The gap between the male and female student-teacher ratios is 73.6%. Furthermore, there is a 67.7% gap in literacy rate between males and females across the country.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 129-140
Author(s):  
Pragya Paneru

 The Gender gap is one of the most prominent problems in the context of Nepal. Even if Nepal constitution promotes gender equality and equity, there is still a huge gap between male and female. Women lag in literary percentage, nutritional health conditions, ownership, and employment opportunities. One of the obstacles in the path of gender equality is our systemic education materials especially our textbooks which reinforce the stereotypical concept of male and female through textbook representations. Researchers have shown that gender stereotypes have been seen in the textbooks of highly developed countries like America, Australia, and Hongkong. In this context, all the compulsory textbooks of grade four and five prescribed by the Curriculum Development Centre in the context of Nepal were observed. In all the books, stereotypical representations of male and female characters were found. Most of the men and women were presented doing conventional gender roles, and male-centered themes are found in the narratives. This research claims that when conventional attitude regarding gender is transferred to young children, it ultimately reproduces similar gendered personalities and helps to maintain the gender gap. This research uses the concept of ‘technology of power’ by Foucault to interpret gender representations in textbooks. A Ccritical Discourse Analysis has been used to analyze the data from textbooks. The findings suggest that there are biased gender representations suggesting stereotypes and gender binary which could potentially affect the learners both male and female as it fosters false knowledge regarding gender and overburdens the male whereas humiliates the females.


2011 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olugbenga Ademodi

AbstractThis study examines the interpretation of the American Bar Association's accreditation standard for law schools in the United States and the effect it could have on minority students studying in such law schools. It shows how such students will be greatly disadvantaged. It also shows the principle underlying the solution and how academic law libraries can aid in solving the problem and make a diverse bar a reality.


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 5-32
Author(s):  
Mary Anne Noone

It’s a great privilege to deliver this year’s Susan Campbell Oration. I, like many others, had the pleasure of working with Sue on a range of activities. In 2007, Sue conducted a review of the La Trobe Law School Clinical program which was instrumental in helping ensure the program remained an integral aspect of the La Trobe University law course. I hope what I have to say honours Sue’s memory and her contributions to legal education and clinical legal education in particular2.  My focus in this presentation is on how Australian clinical legal education responds to the various innovations and disruptions occurring in the legal arena. The scope and breadth of innovations is mindboggling. There are many predictions about what the future holds for the legal profession, from gloom and doom to utopia, and there is a growing body of literature discussing the implications for the legal profession and legal education. In reality, it is impossible to envisage what the legal world will look like in ten years let alone thirty and that poses a real challenge for those involved in legal education, including clinical legal education. How best to prepare today’s students for the unknown future?  Given that I have no expertise in digital technology and am certainly not a futurologist my comments relate to those areas about which I have some background: access to justice, social security and clinical legal education.  I briefly outline the variety and scope of innovations occurring in the legal world, discuss two related aspects namely access to justice and government decision making, using the example of Robodebt, and then examine the potential for clinical legal education in these disruptive times. I argue that clinical legal education is well placed to take a more central role in Australian law schools and the training of 21st century legal workers. 


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document