In this episode our guest was Swethaa Ballakrishnen whom we spoke to about their research on women’s representation in elite law firms. Swethaa’s first book, Accidental Feminism unpacks the case of unintentional gender parity among India’s elite legal professionals. The legal profession worldwide is fairly male-dominated, and India is no exception. However, Elite corporate law firms in India are a surprising exception. These law firms offer a surprising oasis for women within a hostile, predominantly male sector. We explored how egalitarian outcomes have been produced in this relatively recent professional setting without any deliberate effort to do so.

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Reading list:

1. Swethaa S Ballakrishnen Accidental Feminism: Gender Parity and Selective Mobility among India’s Professional Elite. Princeton University Press, 2021.

2. Ethan Michelson Women in the Legal Profession, 1970-2010: A Study of the Global Supply of Lawyer, Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies Vol. 20, No. 2 (2013), 1071.

3. Bryant G. Garth and Joyce S. Sterling. "Diversity, hierarchy, and fit in legal careers: insights from fifteen years of qualitative interviews." Geo. J. Legal Ethics 31 (2018): 123

CREDITS:

Host: Leah Verghese

This is a Maed in India production.

Producer: Nikkethana K

Sound Mixing: Lakshman Parsuram

Project Supervisor: Shaun Fanthome