Approximately 14%, or 27, of U.S. American Bar Association-accredited law schools have never appointed a woman as dean. Notably, this includes Cornell Law School and the University of Michigan Law School. An ongoing dean search at the University of Michigan Law School following the end of previous Dean Mark West’s maximum ten-year tenure brings attention to this statistic. He has since been replaced on an interim basis by Kyle D. Logue, the Douglas A. Kahn collegiate professor of law, as of January 1 this year. According to Law.com, these figures raise an important question about gender representation in legal academia.
This situation persists although a 2021 Villanova Law Review paper advocated that women should not steer away from aspiring to deanship roles despite the existing obstacles. The paper endorsed a proactive approach in challenging the status quo within key leadership roles in the academic legal landscape.