Some people think that women and men are treated differently during interviews. In an attempt to discover these differences, I asked one married man and one married woman to describe their 2L summer interview experiences. As a small sampling, their responses are not meant to draw any widespread conclusions, but merely serve as a starting place to reflect.

[More after the jump]

Both interviewees applied to top firms, mostly large ones in the New York metro area. The man did not care whether or not his responses remained anonymous, however, the woman did. Ultimately, the woman felt as if she had been invited to fewer interviews than her male counterparts. She noted that some of the firms she applied to invited only men for second rounds, even though her class ranking was higher than the men’s.

When I asked, “Do you think it makes a difference to wear a skirt suit?,” the most telling response came from the man. He replied, “For men, absolutely. For women, I don’t think it makes a difference, as long as the dress is ‘appropriate’ and meets the level of professionalism expected by (most) in the legal profession regardless of the applicant’s gender.” The woman did not think it should matter whether women wore skirts or pants. I was left wondering whether “(most) in the legal profession” still expect women to wear skirts to interviews.

I was surprised to find that both wore their wedding rings to their interviews and neither felt that being married detracted from their eligibility as a summer associate. Typically women do find that their marital status is a hindrance in the legal profession whereas men find it a bonus. For women, marriage can be negative because child-bearing is a quick follow-up to it (and child-bearing carries with it a host of other concerns), and for the men, marriage typically means stability and reliability.

The responses indicated to me that women do still perceive themselves as being treated differently, but maybe not as differently as once thought. Alternatively, perhaps the differences in interview experiences between men and women are less apparent for summer positions than permanent positions.