Law Schools

2023's Booming Hiring Market Had A Clear Demographic Skew

What will next year's data show?

By  
on

Grad Jobs SadThe 2023 hiring market boasted some very high salaries and employment rates, but who were the main benefactors? The data are in and they show some interesting outcomes across racial demographics. Reuters has coverage:

The disparities are widest when looking at legal jobs that require bar admission, which are considered by many as the gold standard for J.D. employment. Among white law grads, 84% had secured those positions within 10 months of graduation. But of Black law grads and Native American or Alaska Natives, 73% were in those jobs.

Just 80% of Latino law grads secured those jobs, four percentage points lower than their white classmates. Asian law grads had 81% bar passage-required employment rate, while Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islanders posted the lowest such employment rate at 67%.

It is hard to know the exact reasons for the employment disparities, but it’s worth recognizing as we contemplate the fall out of the Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision that the 14th Amendment is race-neutral despite the clear historical context that gave rise to it. With that said, the overall high rate of gainful legal employment is good to see.

Racial, Ethnicity Gaps In New Lawyer Jobs Persisted In 2023, Amid Robust Job Market [ABA Journal]

Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s.  He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at [email protected] and by tweet at @WritesForRent.

Sponsored

Topics

, ,