Professors' Research Results in Gender Equality Task Force
Posted on Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Westminster College sociology professors Dr. Phyllis Kitzerow and Dr. Virginia Tomlinson's joint research, "The Legal Profession: A Study of the ACBA Membership 2005", has prompted the formation of the Gender Equality Task Force by the Allegheny County Bar Association.
"This is a study of 1,250 attorneys, looking at their careers from the preparatory stage through the current employment," Kitzerow said. "This collaborative effort looks at earnings, hours worked, perceptions of discrimination, plans for the future, and whether or not they would choose law again.
"The data was gathered by questionnaire, and after a careful analysis, we found marked differences in male and female lawyer's incomes, levels of satisfaction and attitudes," Tomlinson said. "The comparison with a 1990 study of the bar association membership showed little progress had been made towards women's equality. These results are in line with state and national studies on the progress of women in law."
The study is published on the Allegheny County Bar Association website at http://www.ACBA.org and an in-depth story was also published in the Lawyer's Journal, an ACBA publication. Stories about Kitzerow's and Tomlinson's work on Allegheny County lawyers made the front page of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Pittsburgh Tribune Review.
Kitzerow has taught at Westminster since 1978. She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin and a master's and Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh. Contact her at (724) 946-7252 or e-mail kitzerpg@westminster.edu for more information.
Tomlinson, director of the Drinko Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Westminster, earned her undergraduate degree from Birmingham Southern College, a master's from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and a Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh. Contact her at (724) 946-6033 or e-mail tomlinvm@westminster.edu for more information.
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