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The invisible stigmatisation of female practitioners in international arbitration

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 October 2021

Umika Sharma
Umika Sharma*
Affiliation:
PhD Researcher (NUS Graduate Research Scholar), National University of Singapore, Singapore
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

The paper is a study of the gender-based stigmatisation process of elite professionals in an international legal field. It uses commercial arbitration as an example of an international profession and adds to the prevalent understanding of gender inequality by developing a framework called ‘invisible stigmatisation’. The main theoretical framework is supported by twenty-two semi-structured interviews conducted across five international arbitration jurisdictions and two original datasets. These data have helped to contextualise the nuances of gender-based stigmatisation in prestigious arbitral appointments and at the echelons of international arbitration law firms. The paper establishes that the stigmatising experiences drive elite female professionals and their gender-equality consciousness. These experiences also lead to them devise innovative strategies to minimise the effects of gender inequality on their professional lives.

Keywords

international arbitrationgenderdiversitylegal professionsempirical researchinternational law
Type
Special Issue Article
Information
International Journal of Law in Context , Volume 17 , Special Issue 3: Stigmatisation, Identities and the Law: Asian and Comparative Perspectives , September 2021 , pp. 371 - 389
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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