THE POWER OF WOMEN IN ATENEO LAW SCHOOL
From: The Dean's Corner, Dean Cesar L. Villanueva
http://www.law.ateneo.edu/ 24 August 2007
Last Tuesday (21 August), The Manila Times came out on its front page with the news item Women Outpace Men in Executive Derby, confirming previous news that “WOMEN are now outnumbering men at the top of the corporate ladder in the Philippines and the trend is set to increase over the coming years,” confirming previous report in Malaya (03 August) that “Women are slowly dominating in Philippine offices. . . . [where] Filipino women have been steadily outnumbering men in executive and supervisory positions in the past five years. . . [which] also noted the steady ‘widening gap’ between the two genders since 2002.”
The source of the report is no less than Ateneo Law alumnus, DOLE Secretary Arturo Brion (valedictorian, ALS Class ’74), who happens to be married also to Ateneo Law alumna, Tonette Brion (ALS Class ’82). According to the news item, the key to the state of things is “access to education, with one in three of the estimated 12.8 million working women having reached college compared to only one in five of 20.1 million working Filipino males.” “With higher education, women have better chances of also getting better paying and higher positions,” Brion said.
Even in the Supreme Court today, of the fifteen Justices, five are lady justices, more than in any time in the history of our Judiciary. There is no doubt that with more lady lawyers being appointed to the Judiciary, it will not be long before we have the more women Justices and shortly our first Lady Chief Justice.
We in the Ateneo Law School, have long come to an often gut-feel consensus that women now rule the Law studentry. The urban legend has it that on average 55% to 60% of the student population would be women, that women students tend to be more studious and conscientious in their school work and consequently, the survival rates and the honor role achievements of women in the Law School is better than for the male population.
We looked at the statistics since School Year (SY) 2001-2002 up to the first semester of the current school year, and found the following facts relating to these gender issues, as follows:
1. Student Population – The student population is reasonable divided almost equally between female and male students over the periods covered, thus:
School Year | Semester | Female | Male | Ratio |
| 2001-2002 | First | 337 | 336 | 50%-50% |
| Second | 311 | 280 | 53%-47% |
| 2002-2003 | First | 373 | 330 | 53%-47% |
| Second | 355 | 309 | 53%-47% |
| 2003-2004 | First | 372 | 339 | 52%-48% |
| Second | 364 | 322 | 53%-47% |
| 2004-2005 | First | 409 | 353 | 54%-46% |
| Second | 378 | 318 | 54%-46% |
| 2005-2006 | First | 431 | 342 | 56%-44% |
| Second | 402 | 318 | 56%-44% |
| 2006-2007 | First | 367 | 364 | 50%-50% |
| Second | 354 | 335 | 51%-49% |
| 2007-2008 | First | 379 | 369 | 51%-49% |
In any given semester during the period in review, it would be an exaggeration to conclude that female student dominate the male students in numbers. However, that student population in any given semester in slightly in favor of women is a testimony of how public perception of the legal profession has changed since my generation’s time as student in the Law School where then in a class of say forty students, only about eight to ten of them would be women. There is no doubt that the law profession is considered to no longer be a “masculine” undertaking, and that each year the law profession is considered by the best and brightest women of our society to be a premium choice that competes with other preferred professions, like medicine and accountancy. Although women do not dominate the student population, there is no doubt that women power and influence has come a long way in the Law School.
There are two dominant theories on why the “fairest and the brightest” have been attracted to the legal profession. The first theory posits that it is television programs like Ally Mcbeal and other lawyer program which show women lawyers who not only look and dress well, but show both courage and intelligence, that have attracted the new generations to the legal profession. The other more plausible theory, is that the growth of the legal practice from pure litigation, to alternative practices, like special projects, IP and cyberspace law, media and entertainment law, and family law, has allowed many well-motivated and highly intelligent women to find a niche in the legal profession for the full expression of the women’s role in society.
2. Survival and Attrition Rates – The figures in Law School in the past recent years, do indicates that women tend to be more disciplined and more dedicated to the study of law, and therefore tend to achieve better survival rates. The urban legend in Law School is that from a 60% dominance in the freshmen years, the women students survive better to bring the women component in the graduating batch to 70% in their favor, with men constituting only 30% of the graduating population. The actual figures do not support this.
The Freshman Batch SY 2001-2002 started with 128 women and 149 men (46%-54%), with ratios in favor of men, but graduated four years later, as ALS Batch ’05 (at the end of School Year 2004-2005) with the following number: 78 women and 76 men (51%-49%) — indicating a much higher survival rate for the women members of the batch (61%), compared with the men (51%).
The Freshman Batch SY 2002-2003 which started with 152 women and 118 men (56%-44%), graduated as ALS Batch ’06 (at the end of School Year 2005-2006). with the following number: 100 women and 58 men (56%-41%) — indicating that over the four years of studies the women had a higher survival rate than the men: 65% for women, 49% men.
The Freshman Batch SY 2003-2004 started with 107 women and 126 men (46%-54%), and graduated last April as ALS Batch ’07 (who are taking the Bar Examinations this September) in following numbers: 73 women and 80 men (48%-52%) — indicating that over the four years of studies the women had only a slightly higher survival rate than the men: 68% for women, 63% men.
The Freshman Batch SY 2004-2005, started out in the following ratio: 138 women and 118 men (54%-46%), and have reached the senior first semester in the following numbers: 98 women and 68 men (59%-41%) — indicating that women component of the batch will have a better survival rate (71%) at graduation in April ’08, than the men (58%).
The figures over the covered period cover do indicate therefore that the women students tend as a group to better meet the challenges of the J.D. Program than the men components in the batch.
3. Graduating With Honors – The statistics for the seven graduating batches, show the following statistics:
Men have outnumbered the women for class valedictorian: 7 to 2
Women have outnumbered the men for class salutatorian: 7 to 2
showing that there has always been an equal battle for the first and second top places between men and women, but with men coming on top more often than their women counterpart.
When it comes to those who graduate with honors in the last seven years, the figures are as follows:
| School Year | Female | Male | % Ratio |
| 2000-2001 | 6 | 10 | 38% - 63% |
| 2001-2002 | 19 | 6 | 76% - 24% |
| 2002-2003 | 17 | 21 | 45% - 55% |
| 2003-2004 | 17 | 12 | 59% - 41% |
| 2004-2005 | 18 | 14 | 56% - 44% |
| 2005-2006 | 29 | 10 | 74% - 26% |
| 2006-2007 | 20 | 5 | 80% - 20% |
Although the tendency in the last two years has been for women seniors to dominate the honors places, the indication over the last seven years do show that the male and female students have about the same intelligence and discipline to outperform one another, in the honors game.
The Law School has in fact acknowledged by action the importance of women in the development of its curriculum. The first and by all accounts, the youngest ever appointed dean, Dean Cynthia Roxas-del Castillo, can rightfully be called the “Mother of Ateneo’s J.D. Program,” for it was during her long tenure (1990-1999), that not only saw the first J.D. graduates from the Law School, but actually nurtured into full maturity and glory the J.D. Program, which undoubtedly is now the gold standard in Philippine legal education.
Although the faculty profile still indicate more male faculty than female (115 versus 19), the last batches of appointment to the faculty were 4 to 1, lady lawyers. There is no doubt that the power and influence of women will continue to contribute to the development of legal education in the Law School, and certainly in the country as a whole, for there can be no doubt that the Atenean lady lawyer is a formidable person to reckon with.
