CBA Record Feb-March 2018

YLS Special Issue: The Benefits of Belonging

By Katherine A. Welz

Within Reach: Legal Community Strives to Crack Glass Ceiling

#NeverAgain

#TimesUp

#MeToo

2 017was the year of the woman.With the rise of the #MeToo movement and the release of the blockbuster hit WonderWoman , women across the country were lauded for their individuality and celebrated for embracing their inner voices and speaking out against injustice. This movement towards female empowerment has brought these issues to the forefront of the public’s attention where they are now

the subject of daily discussions after decades of being largely ignored. The challenges facing women are certainly present in the legal profession. Despite great strides over the years, many recent studies and statistics support the conclusion that much still needs to be done for women to reach parity and inclusion. Some of the statistics are promising. For example, in 2016, women for the first time

comprised the majority of law students in the United States, having just over 50 percent of the seats at accredited law schools. Some statistics, however, remain troubling: in 2017 the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that, on average, female attorneys only earned 83.2 percent of a male attorney’s salary. Studies have shown that challenges uniquely impacting women occur even

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