Women Judges in Western Democracies: The Interaction Between Professional Paths and Prestige

EMILIE KLOVNING*

While women remain underrepresented in the judiciaries of all common law countries, they are increasingly outnumbering male judges in civil law countries. A number of scholars and policymakers explain this discrepancy with reference to the different methods by which judges are traditionally appointed in civil law and common law countries (“the professional path theory”). This Note explores the rationales underlying the professional path theory and adds another element to the equation. To explain the variance observed, this Note argues, the professional theory must be supplemented by an understanding of how women’s success in attaining judgeship is affected by the relative prestige enjoyed by the judicial profession in each country (“the prestige theory”).

* J.D. Candidate, 2021, Columbia Law School. I thank Professor Claire Ullman at Barnard College, Professor Jeffrey Lax at Columbia University, and Professor Kathryn Judge at Columbia Law School for their guidance. I thank the staff of the Columbia Journal of Transnational Law for their meticulous editing―with special thanks to Tara Hofbauer, Connor Steelberg, Grace Pyo, Vineet Surapaneni, and Eddie Kim. And finally, I thank my fiancé and my parents for supporting me always.