If Alito were correct that this is purely a pipeline issue, then something like 30% (what is that, 3 or 4 of 12?) of the bench would be female. Likewise, 30 or 40% of partner positions at law firms and other leadership roles in the profession would be held by women. But they are not, for many reasons totally unrelated to the "pipeline." Those problems start with run-of---the-mill gender discrimination (after graduating with honors from Stanford Law, Justice O'Connor was offered a job at a law firm as a legal secretary) to more subtle hurdles, such as boys-club recruiting events, nonexistent family leave policies, and croniism in hiring. While I do not know the figures, I have heard that some of the present or recent Supreme Court justices have never had a female law clerk, and some have never had more than one among three clerks.

Canada has about the same female:male ratios in law schools, and we've probably tracked the U.S. for the last few generations, yet our Chief Justice is a woman and a total of 4 out of 9 judges on the Supreme Court (that's including Chief Justice McLachlin) are women.

... but 30% of 9 justices is 2.7

If Alito were correct that this is purely a pipeline issue, then something like 30% (what is that, 3 or 4 of 12?) of the bench would be female. Likewise, 30 or 40% of partner positions at law firms and other leadership roles in the profession would be held by women. But they are not, for many reasons totally unrelated to the "pipeline."

Really? This is an honest question - the average age a Supreme Court justice is appointed is 52. What percentage of the graduating classes were female back in 1977? Of those women, how many were able to pursue the kind of experiences necessary to prepare you for life on the Supreme Court? Opportunities for women were not what they are today.

Just as with CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, the idea of experience for a position is very much a real one. The pipeline - while not as mathematical as is talked about here - is also real.

According to the American Bar Association, as of 2003, 20.1% of US Circuit Court Judges are women. All of the current Supreme Court judges have been picked from circuit courts (Alito, Roberts, Scalia, Breyer, Thomas, Ginsburg, Kennedy, Stevens, Souter). Bork was also from a circuit court. Rehnquist and O'Connor were abberations, though O'Connor was a state judge, and 26% of judges of state courts of last resort are women.

19.2% Of US District court judges are female. Women also comprise nearly 30% of all lawyers.

http://www.abanet.org/women/glance.pdf

In Alito's own 3rd circuit, four out of the fourteen judges are women, or 28%, which would come out to the equivalent of 2.57 female justices on the Supreme Court.

So, I really don't see how there's a shortage of female qualified attorneys/judges . The problem is that a bunch of old white guys are making up the nominee lists.

Ah, how typical that feminists will always hang their hat on the invisible discrimination argument. Unfortunately for feminism, reality is a lot more complex. Some women could be dropping out of the pipeline voluntarily in greater numbers than men. Others could lack the career support of a stay at home spouse.

That's not to discount discrimination as a possible factor. Or reverse discrimination--Justice Thomas benefited from affirmative action. It's simply to point out that people shouldn't make simplistic arguments when the truth is they don't really know why there isn't gender parity.

Women have been graduating from law school in large numbers for at least the last 25 years. The absence of women on the high court illustrates a greater problem with the absence of women in more powerful legal positions in general. Our firm, one of the largest and most prosperous in the Country, hires at least as many women as men as junior associates (just out of law school). The young women perform as well, have tremendous talent, and great potential. Large, successful law firms, however, lose most of these talented women before they can be considered as partners. Women disproportionately forgo the long hours, abuse from partners and senior associates, high anxiety levels, etc. in favor of "life balance." They move into other career areas or get married, have kids, and stay home. Alternatively, they move to a part-time, non-partner track. For whatever reason, men give up any form of acceptable personal life for the goal of being a partner in a large law firm; women tend not to (at least not to the degree that men do). This results in women making up only a small percentage of partners at large firms, even though for over 20 years, large numbers of women have been graduating from law school.