Report Card on the Diversity of California’s Legal Profession

Hei-ock Kim

Having a diverse legal profession positively impacts the administration
of justice, ensures fairness, and promotes the rule of law. The mandate
to promote a diverse and inclusive legal profession is central to the State
Bar’s mission of public protection. The State Bar advances this aspect of its
mission in part by collecting, analyzing, and presenting data on California’s
licensed attorneys through an annual attorney census. This first annual
report card uses census data to provide a clear picture of the state of the
profession from a diversity and inclusion standpoint.
As the report card reflects, the profession has become increasingly
diverse in recent decades, with newly licensed attorneys better reflecting
California’s rich and varied demographics. However, much work remains.
The analyses below highlight areas of the legal profession where the
greatest opportunities for improvement exist. A Call to Action follows to
encourage employers and attorneys to influence and advance an inclusive
workplace that supports a more diverse workforce.

Woman in the Workplace 2019 Report Cover

Women in the Workplace 2019

Hei-ock

This year, 329 companies employing more than 13 million people shared their pipeline data or completed a survey of their HR practices. In addition, more than 68,500 employees were surveyed on their workplace experiences, and we interviewed women and men of different races and ethnicities, LGBTQ women and men, and women with disabilities at all levels in their organizations
for additional insights.

Our 2019 findings build on our data from the last four years, as well as similar research conducted by McKinsey & Company in 2012.

Woman in the Workplace 2018 Report Cover

Women in the Workplace 2018

Hei-ock

For the last four years, companies have reported that they are highly committed to gender diversity. But that commitment has not translated into meaningful progress.

Women continue to be vastly underrepresented at every level. For women of color, it’s even worse. Only about one in five senior leaders is a woman, and one in twenty-five is a woman of color.

Progress isn’t just slow—it’s stalled. And we know why.

Women in the Workplace 2016 Report Cover

Women in the Workplace 2016

Hei-ock

In corporate America, women fall behind early and continue to lose ground with every step

Women Shadowing a Man

My life got easier after top surgery. Is this what male privilege looks like?

Hei-ock

One other thing is clear. The inequality that women experience at work and in day to day interactions isn’t just in their heads. We need to recognize women’s work and women’s ideas. We need to be willing to envision a woman as president. I will keep fighting for women, no matter what body I inhabit.

Vector Drawing of a Library

‘An Educated Lady’ Gets the Job: Anne Shaw

Hei-ock

Anne Shaw spent only four years at the College of New Jersey, but her short employment signified an important shift in the makeup of Princeton’s staff.

Hired in 1877 as the assistant to the librarian, Frederic Vinton, Shaw is believed to be the first female employee to fill a non-service role on campus. That also made her one of about only 15 percent of American women who worked for pay in the 1870s.

Woman Standing with a Text Box Cutout Saying "PONO"

A Celebration of Women Woodworkers

kendra

In honour of Women’s History Month & International Women’s Day, we wanted to shine the spotlight on Australia’s remarkably talented women woodworkers. Meet a few of Handkrafted’s fantastic female furniture makers, who have carved out big names for themselves in this male-dominated domain.  Women have played a critical role in the woodworking sector for centuries, despite often sliding under the radar. Fortunately …

Three Japanese business people meeting in an office

Lessons from the rise of women’s labor force participation in Japan

kendra

Brookings November 1, 2017 By Jay Shambaugh, Ryan Nunn, and Becca Portman After decades of steady gains, U.S. women’s labor force participation peaked in 2000. In retrospect, this was an important turning point: rising women’s participation had fueled household income and economic growth, and helped offset declining prime-age male labor force participation. Declining prime-age women’s participation since then has weakened growth, exacerbating …

Pop Art of.a woman with an Atom for an Eye

Most Wikipedia Profiles Are of Men. This Scientist Is Changing That.

kendra

Jessica Wade has added nearly 700 Wikipedia biographies for important female and minority scientists in less than two years. “Our science can only benefit the whole of society if it’s done by the whole of society.” — Dr. Jessica Wade, a physicist who adds biographies of female and minority scientists to Wikipedia daily Fewer than 20 percent of biographies on Wikipedia in English are of women, …