This book is the first formal, empirical investigation into the law
faculty experience using a distinctly intersectional lens, examining
both the personal and professional lives of law faculty members.
Comparing the professional and personal experiences of women of color
professors with white women, white men, and men of color faculty from
assistant professor through dean emeritus, Unequal Profession explores
how the race and gender of individual legal academics affects not only
their individual and collective experience, but also legal education as
a whole. Drawing on quantitative and qualitative empirical data, Meera
E. Deo reveals how race and gender intersect to create profound
implications for women of color law faculty members, presenting unique
challenges as well as opportunities to improve educational and
professional outcomes in legal education. Deo shares the powerful
stories of law faculty who find themselves confronting intersectional
discrimination and implicit bias in the form of silencing, mansplaining,
and the presumption of incompetence, to name a few. Through hiring,
teaching, colleague interaction, and tenure and promotion, Deo brings
the experiences of diverse faculty to life and proposes a number of
mechanisms to increase diversity within legal academia and to improve
the experience of all faculty members.
