Westminster College sociology professors Dr. Phyllis Kitzerow and Dr. Virginia Tomlinson's joint research, "New Diversity and Persistent Inequality: Gender Issues in the Legal Profession," will be presented at the Faculty Forum Wednesday, March 28, at 11:40 a.m. in the Sebastian Mueller Theater of the McKelvey Campus Center.

The event is free and open to the public and is part of the Westminster College Diversity Symposium, "Images of Women: Choices for Women and Men," which is a week-long event that celebrates the 25th anniversary of the first women's symposium at Westminster. Visit http://www.westminster.edu/news/releases/release.cfm?id=1964 for a complete calendar of Diversity Symposium events.

"This is a study of 1,250 attorneys, looking at their careers from the preparatory stage through the current employment," Kitzerow said. "This collaborative effort looks at earnings, hours worked, perceptions of discrimination, plans for the future, and whether or not they would choose law again.

"The data was gathered by questionnaire, and after a careful analysis, we found marked differences in male and female lawyers' incomes, levels of satisfaction and attitudes," Tomlinson said. "The comparison with a 1990 study of the bar association membership showed little progress had been made towards women's equality. These results are in line with state and national studies on the progress of women in law."

The study is published on the Allegheny County Bar Association website at www.ACBA.org. and an in-depth story was also published in the Lawyer's Journal, an ACBA publication. Stories about Kitzerow's and Tomlinson's work on Allegheny County lawyers made the front page of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Pittsburgh Tribune Review.

Kitzerow has taught at Westminster since 1978. She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin and a master's and Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh. Contact her at via e-mail at kitzerpg@westminster.edu for more information.

Tomlinson, director of the Drinko Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Westminster, earned her undergraduate degree from Birmingham Southern College, a master's from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and a Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh. Contact her at (724) 946-6033 or e-mail tomlinvm@westminster.edu for more information.

Faculty Forum, established in 1990, serves as a venue for the exchange of ideas and information among Westminster College faculty. Speakers present their research, teaching ideas, lectures, performances, special programs, and uses of technology to keep faculty informed about the work of colleagues from many disciplines.

Dr. Phyllis Kitzerow

Dr. Virginia Tomlinson