Gender, Judging and Job Satisfaction

Abstract

Though the overall numbers of women judges remain small, higher proportions of women have been appointed to many lower courts in common law, and particularly in civil law, countries. This paper investigates whether the experiences of judging and judicial work differ among women and men magistrates in Australia's lower courts. The particular focus is satisfaction with their work as judges. In so doing, it helps build up a picture of the extent of the gendered nature of the judiciary as an occupation. Measures of overall job satisfaction identify few gender differences; more refined measures highlight areas of divergence between men and women magistrates, suggesting gendered experiences of judicial work which result from particular characteristics of the occupation, as presently constituted, rather than the nature of judging itself.

Entering the Australian Judiciary: Gender and Court Hierarchy

“…The nature of the work itself and its intellectual challenge were the most important reasons to become a judge or magistrate for all cohorts. Approaches to encourage female candidates should emphasise the attractiveness of intrinsic aspects of judicial work and provide reliable information about the high degree of judicial satisfaction with their work (Roach Anleu and Mack 2009).…”

“…(See Question 35 in the .) These practice areas were chosen based on responses to a previous survey of magistrates in 2002 (Roach Anleu and Mack 2009) as well as limited generally available information about the judiciary. “Other non‐criminal” was used as a broader term than “general civil”.…”

“…The use of intrinsic and extrinsic aspects or dimensions of work is proposed by Gruneberg (1979) and developed further by Rose (2003) in relation to job satisfaction (Roach Anleu and Mack 2009). Factor analysis confirms the validity of these groupings, showing that intrinsic and altruistic features form one factor, extrinsic features separate into two factors indicated by the subcategories described, and career path elements form a fourth factor.…”

Women judges who judge women offenders: a Chinese case study on gender and judging

“…In past feminist studies on women in the judiciary, qualitative approaches, especially interviews, were commonly used (see e.g. Cardinal, 2008;Kim, 2009;Ludewig & LaLlave 2013;Roach Anleu & Mack, 2009Sommerlad, 2013). As Hsiung (2001) noted, interviews can elicit narratives that may provide true and rich insights and capture accurately the complicated issues concerning women in everyday life.…”

(What We Talk About When We Talk About) Judicial Temperament

“…Contemptuous treatment is a familiar element of judicial disciplinary proceedings, generally involving insults, ridicule, and ritual humiliation. 190 The anger-frustration-irritation triptych, even without a contempt element, thus embodies an underlying disposition not only for a specific sort of internal experience-such as "thinking angry thoughts" and having "angry feelings"but also for aggressive speech and behaviors reflecting those thoughts and feelings. 191 In fact, by expressing less warmth, escalating, and engaging in "toxic interpersonal behaviors" like use of "contempt and sarcasm," persons with this temperamental profile actually may create conflictual situations, to which they will then have characteristically exaggerated responses.…”