Everyday in the legal profession, women are finding new ways to break through and change the stigma that it is a male dominated workplace. While there have been numerous studies and reports that highlight the significant pay gap between men and women in the legal field, this does not seem stop these women from entering law school with dreams of becoming a successful attorney one day. Further, an article from the New York Times in 2016 noted that woman make up less than 20% of partner positions at prestigious law firms.
Recently, there has been a growing trend amongst various different law schools across the country where women are outnumbering men in the classroom. Just two years ago, in 2016, women outnumbered men in law school enrollment across the country for the first time ever. In 2017, the trend continued, with women continuing to outnumber men in law school. While it is still to early in 2018, studies suggest that this trend will continue this year.
According to enjuris.com, in the year 2017, there were 110,184 total law students in the United States. Of the 110,184 total students, 56,490 were females and 53,645 are males. That means that females comprised over 51.3% of law school total enrollment. In 2016, women made up 50.09 % of total law school enrollment. While there may not be that much of a difference in terms of percentage from 2016 to 2017, it shows a far more significant stat, which is consistency of woman continuing to attend law school, despite the odds being against them for securing high paying jobs once they graduate.
Some of the top law schools that have a higher female enrollment ratio to men include: University of California Berkley (60.1%), New York University (53.4%), Georgetown University (51.8%), Vanderbilt University (51.2%), University of California Los Angeles (51%), and Northwestern University (50.8%).
