Scholarly influence in a diverse legal academy: Race, sex, and citation counts

This article explores sex and race differences in scholarly influence by ex amining logged citation counts for ail 815 professors who began tenure-trac k positions at accredited U.S. law schools between 1986 and 1991 and who re mained on the tenure track in fall 1998. White men averaged significantly m ore citations than did women or minorities. The differences, however, were modest. Controlling for biographical variables through a series of regressi on equations, moreover, eliminated the citation gap between white men and b oth white and minority women, while substantially reducing the gap for mino rity men. The analyses suggest that most sex and race differences in citati on counts are associated with differences in educational background, presti ge of the institution at which a professor teaches, teaching assignments, a nd similar factors. As these differences diminish, already modest gaps in c itation counts should decline as well.