For the past seven years, political scientist Alice Kang has tracked how women broke the glass ceiling to be appointed to the highest courts in democratic countries.
Teaming up with colleagues at Texas A&M and Arizona State, Kang built a database of judicial appointments of women to courts equivalent to the U.S. Supreme Court in both developing and stable democracies. The scholars also looked at political factors that preceded the appointments of these female judges.
In a recently publish study, Kang and her co-authors examined 159 high courts over 124 countries over four decades.
Alice Kang
faculty
Professor
Political Science
Associate Professor of Political Science and Ethnic Studies
Political Science
4024722343
Bio
Kang is a co-author of "Reimagining the Judiciary (2021)." The book analyzes how all-men high courts came to an end and why some high courts have more women justices than others. Kang is also the author of “Bargaining for Women’s Rights (2015),” which analyzed social movements in the Muslim-majority country of Niger. In some cases Muslim women have won new rights to political participation, reproductive health and education, while in others their efforts have been stymied. Kang specializes in comparative politics with an emphasis on Africa.