First Advisor
Lindsay Benstead
Date of Award
Winter 3-2024
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Political Science and University Honors
Department
Political Science
Language
English
Subjects
Law, Inequality, Sex-based Discrimination
Abstract
The research conducted in this thesis aims to explain why fewer females than males choose law and pinpoint the explanation as to why they have disparate experiences in the field. The hypothesis is sex discrimination is to blame for the differences among female and male decision making. Sexual harassment and discrimination plays a very prominent role is male dominated fields and discourages females from joining those workforces. The research method for this experiment was an anonymous survey, sent out via social media and email. The survey method was chosen because it was meant to be a quick, yet effective way to obtain information from people to increase respondents rates and get the data that was needed. The major findings from this survey include the following: Out of all fifty females, 17 reported sex discrimination as either a reason for doubting going into the field, or not being in the field at all. On the other hand, none of the responses from the fifty males indicated sex discrimination as a reason for doubting their decision, or not being in the field at all. This evidence suggests that one driver of the gender gap in entering or remaining in law is perceived and actual sex based discrimination. However, sex discrimination has no correlation to males reasons for doubting or not going into the field, due to disparate treatment of females and males in the workplace.
Recommended Citation
Cohen, Abigail, "What explains male and female decision making to enter law? Evidence from a survey of US-based undergraduate students." (2024). University Honors Theses. Paper 1446.