India has one of the largest legal professions in the world, with more than 600,000 law professionals. Yet, women remain underrepresented in the upper echelons of legal practice and the judiciary. Writing in the International Journal of Process Management and Benchmarking, P. Nisha and A. Vasumathi of the Vellore Institute of Technology in Vellore, India, explain how this gender disparity is particularly stark in India’s Supreme Court and High Courts. Here, women represent only a small fraction of judges. The team points out that while many women have made notable progress in the legal field, they still face persistent barriers to career advancement and promotion opportunities, often referred to as the “glass ceiling”.
The concept of the glass ceiling is not a new phenomenon, nor one restricted to India. Historically, women around the world have always faced significant obstacles in entering and progressing within the legal profession. Even as more women entered the profession, social expectations and family responsibilities have continued to stifle career progression to senior positions. This imbalance has persisted despite the fact that women now make up a significant proportion of law school graduates and practicing professionals.
Gender stereotypes have played a detrimental role in shaping the professional lives of women in law. This bias in the systems affects what kinds of cases women are assigned, the networking opportunities available to them, and their overall access to career-advancing resources. Faced with fewer high-profile cases and lower-paying ones at that exacerbates the problems they face, often by robbing them of the very opportunities that would allow them to gain the necessary experience to be considered for leadership roles.
The researchers suggest that institutional support could play a major role in addressing these disparities. They suggest that daycare facilities for the children of court employees might alleviate at least some of the burden and obligation on women professionals with offspring, where society often expects them to be the primary carer. However, such measures are not enough. Real progress will only happen when there is a cultural shift within law firms, judicial bodies, and educational institutions, the research suggests. Gender-neutral policies must be implemented at every level of the profession to ensure that women are not held back by biases or by societal expectations.
Nisha, P. and Vasumathi, A. (2025) ‘The impact of personality traits of women advocates towards glass ceiling beliefs for career development’, Int. J. Process Management and Benchmarking, Vol. 19, No. 2, pp.147–192.