Following the Supreme Court’s abortion ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, WorkLife Law experts are anticipating an increase in troubling new barriers for workers and students who need reproductive healthcare. The Center for WorkLife Law has released new resources to address these barriers in employment and education.

New research from the Pregnant Scholar and a cross-institutional team who bring decades of experience in the legal and medical fields designing bias interrupters and advancing diversity in STEM education, revealed that amongst the top-rated medical schools only 14% of the schools reviewed had substantive, stand-alone parental leave policies, while the majority of schools had leave of absence policies without mention of parental leave.

While the landmark law prohibiting sex discrimination in education has long protected pregnant and parenting students, we know more protections are sorely needed to make Title IX’s promise of gender equity in education a reality. The Pregnant Scholar applauds the Department of Educations’ just-released proposed Title IX regulations as they relate to students who are, or will become, pregnant or parents. While further actions are needed to protect student parents, we encourage the adoption of these draft regulations without delay.

Our newest report, “Clarification or Complaints? The Impact of Family Responsibilities Discrimination Laws on State Enforcement Agencies” explores whether and to what extent family responsibilities discrimination laws increase the number of complaints filed with state agencies tasked with enforcing them. Our research found that in states that prohibit discrimination against family caregivers, the average total number of discrimination complaints filed with state enforcement agencies decreased in the years following enactment of caregiver discrimination statutes.

Our Senior Staff Attorney and Director of the Pregnant Scholar Initiative, Jessica Lee, was featured at several events that celebrated the 50th Anniversary of Title IX. Watch her speak at the National Women’s Law Center and the 19th News events on how to elevate Title IX’s protections for pregnant and parenting students.

The Center’s Director Joan C. Williams’ latest article in Bloomberg Law delves into why “Male Partners Get Paid More Than Female Partners – Lots More” with data from our study on racial and gender bias in law firms. Read the article here.

The Center for WorkLife Law is pleased to welcome Peri Ouyang as a summer Legal Fellow. Peri will assist with legal research and work on the Center’s ongoing projects to advance protections for pregnant, parenting, and breastfeeding workers and students, and to prevent family responsibility discrimination.

The Center for WorkLife Law is pleased to welcome Henrique Ferreira as our new Development Associate. Henrique will be assisting in managing outreach and partnerships with external stakeholders, planning special events and overseeing long-term projects for the Center.

Women make up over a third of private wealth advisors in the United States, while people of color account for a fifth of advisors. And yet, the Forbes America’s Top Wealth Advisors List fails to reflect this diversity. Our new White Paper investigates SHOOK Research’s methodology responsible for Forbes’ lists, and questions its ability to recognize the hard work and success of diverse wealth management advisors.