Introduction: Gender and Careers in the Legal Academy: Overview and Synthesis

Introduction: Gender and judging in the Middle East and Africa

“…This special section of the Oñati Socio-Legal Series is the result of the workshop "Gender and Judging in the Middle East and Africa: Emerging Scholarship and Debates" convened at the premises of the Oñati International Institute for the Sociology of Law in Spain between 4-6 July 2018. 1 The workshop aimed at contributing to the abovementioned burgeoning literature, and add new aspects to the empirical comparative work by joining forces with Ulrike Schultz, a pioneer in the field of studies on women and law, gender and judging, and women in legal professional careers Schultz 2003, 2013;Schultz et al 2021). The workshop was coordinated by Monika Lindbekk (University of Southern Denmark), Ulrike Schultz (FernUniversität in Hagen, Germany), Josephine Dawuni (Howard University, USA), and Rania Maktabi (Østfold University College, Norway).…”

“…In civil law systems, entrance into the judicial profession is often through examination, a process that may be less biased against women. In contrast, in common law systems, one needs previous experience and the right connections to become a judge, a process that tends to favour men (Schultz andShaw 2003, 2013;Bauer and Dawuni 2016). The five contributors to this special issue discuss the appointment of women judges in different types of courts, such as family courts, supreme courts, and special courts, such as commercial and military courts.…”