Supporting Faculty through Intersectional Challenges in an Unequal Profession

• In Event: 4254 - Intersectional Inequalities

Abstract

This paper draws upon original empirical data to explore how, in the face of considerable institutional challenges, women of color draw from various support systems to succeed in the legal academy.

The Diversity in Legal Academia project (DLA) is the first, formal, comprehensive, multi-method study of the law faculty experience. It utilizes an intersectional lens to investigate the experiences of women of color legal academics at all stages of their careers, across the US, at both private and public institutions, and from elite to more accessible schools. Ninety-three law professors contributed to the survey and interview data collected in the DLA study. Sixty-three women of color—including African American, Asian American, Latina, Middle Eastern, multiracial, and Native American women—comprise the core sample while the control sample consists of thirty men of color, white women, and white men. Research subjects completed online surveys before participating in interviews, with data coded and analyzed using ATLAS.ti, Excel, and Stata. The quantitative data tabulate survey responses of DLA participants. The quotes qualitative data presented allow the actual voices of faculty to explain their own experiences, with names anonymized to protect confidentiality.

Part I introduces statistics on current law faculty as well as the Diversity in Legal Academia project, the first formal multi-method study on law faculty in the US—which generated the empirical data presented in this paper. Part I also provides a theoretical foundation for this work, including the concepts of intersectionality, privilege, and implicit bias. With this framework in place, Part II examines empirical findings on the sources of support that help female faculty of color overcome barriers to success in legal academia. The paper concludes in Part III with proposed first-step strategies derived from the data that allies in administration and institutional leaders should utilize to create a more equitable and inclusive workplace for all faculty.

Author

• Meera E. Deo, Law School Survey of Student Engagement (LSSSE)