Associate Professor of Government Gbemende Johnson recently published an article titled “Gender, Diversity, and the United States Judiciary” in The SAIS Review of International Affairs. The article was a part of the “Who Runs the World: A Look at Gender in International Affairs” issue. The SAIS Review is a publication of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.
In addition to providing an overview of existing research on judge gender in state and federal courts in the U.S., the article explores how gender, and the intersection of gender and race, affect the career trajectory of women in the legal profession.
Specifically, Johnson notes that the attrition of women and women of color from law school and legal careers reduces the pool of available candidates for judicial office, thus perpetuating inequality in descriptive representation throughout the U.S. judiciary.
“In addition to prioritizing diversity in individual appointments and candidate recruitment,” Johnson wrote, “individuals with appointive and recruitment power should leverage their political capital and promote the institutionalization of policies that promote diversity and retention at all levels of the legal pipeline.”
Johnson was also a panelist for the “Who Runs the World” launch event held in September.