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The Widener Law School in Delaware has made a landmark in the school’s history by electing an all-women leadership of the Widener Law School government – something that happened entirely by chance and not by design.
Liya Groysman, the President of the Student Bar Association of Widener said, “It didn’t click until everyone was elected.”
While the election was extraordinary, it may not be entirely surprising, because Widener is one of the few law schools led by a woman. Dean Linda Ammons assumed seat in 2006 to become the first woman, and also the first African-American to lead the law school, even though, nationally, 20 percent of law school deans are women.
But the election of an all-women students’ body was still extraordinary considering that the incoming class this fall was 55 percent male and women make up for less than half of the entire student body at the Delaware campus.
Though the glass ceiling continues to survive in the industry pockets and in the profession, women have been leading academically and according to the National Center for Education Statistics, women have earned more than half of bachelor’s degrees since the 1980s and in 2010, more than 57 percent of bachelors’ degrees nationwide were earned by women.
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At a time, when according to reports by the Association for Legal Career Professionals the number of women associates is dropping, a trend that began with the economic recession, the election of an all-women students’ body at Widener Law School is definitely calling for social equity. More so, when you also take into account the fact that according to a January 2013 report by the ABA’s Commission on Women in the profession, less than half of law school graduates in the 2010-2011 academic years were women.
Summary:
The Widener Law School in Delaware has made a landmark in its history by electing an all-women leadership – something that happened entirely by chance and not by design. While it is not entirely surprising because Widener is one of the few law schools led by a woman, Dean Linda Ammons who assumed seat in 2006 and became the first African-American to lead the law school.
