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Becoming Gentlemen: Women, Law School, and Institutional Change
Contributor(s): Guinier, Lani (Author)
ISBN: 0807044059     ISBN-13: 9780807044056
Publisher: Beacon Press
OUR PRICE:   $21.78  
Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats
Published: December 1997
Qty:
Annotation: As a student at Yale Law School in 1974, Lani Guinier attended a class with a white male professor who addressed all of the students, male and female, as "gentlemen." To him the greeting was a form of honorific. It evoked the traditional values of legal education to train detached, "neutral" problem solvers. To her it was profoundly alienating.
This volume tells the story of legal education through the experiences of women. It chronicles the disappointments of women as they enter previously male-dominated institutions and, to a surprising extent, remain isolated, marginalized, and dissatisfied. It shows how the hierarchical, competitive approach to training lawyers inhibits many women and some men.
But the book is a critique, not a complaint. The authors argue that conventional approaches to legal education do not educate or evaluate all students based on their potential to either learn or do the job of good lawyers, nor do these approaches explore the range of skills students could bring to the profession.
In questioning what it means to be qualified, what a fair goal in education might be, and what we can learn from diversity, Becoming Gentlemen offers invaluable lessons not only for education but for society in general.


"Becoming Gentlemen is an important contribution to the compelling body of literature that demonstrates that gender discrimination in our colleges and professional schools is often subtle but insidious and even dangerous. Guinier, Fine, and Balin reveal the educational practices that often undermine the success of our most gifted and ambitious female students. Parents of girls should read this account of what could await their daughters in manyeducational settings."

--Ruth Simmons, President of Smith College
"[Lani Guinier] confronts issues of race, political participation, and democracy forcefully and provocatively, invigorating the dialogue on these issues."
--U.S. Senator Bill Bradley
"There is no doubt that [Guinier's] powerful voice will produce good consequences for our nation and our world."
--Cornel West, author of Race Matters
"An important and startling work by a provocative national figure."
--Kirkus Reviews
Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- Education | Philosophy, Theory & Social Aspects
- Law | Legal Education
- Social Science | Women's Studies
Dewey: 340.071
LCCN: 96039142
Physical Information: 0.5" H x 6.03" W x 9.01" (0.60 lbs) 192 pages
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:
The challenge, then, is not to invent new victims or new scapegoats but to mobilize America for the future. What would it take to ensure that all of us can succeed at getting the job done, the problem solved, and the future more secure?

As a student at Yale Law School in 1974, Lani Guinier attended a class with a white male professor who addressed all the students, male and female, as gentlemen. To him the greeting was a form of honorific, evoking the values of traditional legal education. To her it was profoundly alienating.

Years later Guinier began a study of female law students with her colleagues, Michelle Fine and Jane Balin, to try to understand the frustrations of women law students in male-dominated schools. Women are now entering law schools in large numbers, but too often many still do not feel welcome. As one says, I used to be very driven, competitive. Then I started to realize that all my effort was getting me nowhere. I just stopped caring. I am scarred forever.

After interviewing hundreds of women with similar stories, the authors conclude that conventional one-size-fits-all approaches to legal education discourage many women who could otherwise succeed and, even more, fail to help all students realize their full potential as legal problem-solvers.

In Becoming Gentlemen Guinier, Fine, and Balin dare us to question what it means to become qualified, what a fair goal in education might be, and what we can learn from the experience of women law students about teaching and evaluating students in general. Including the authors' original study and two essays and a personal afterword by Lani Guinier, the book challenges us to work toward a more just society, based on ideals of cooperation, the resources of diversity, and the values of teamwork.