"Mommy Track" on Steroids: How the Pandemic is Further Derailing "Moms of Law"

Authors

Lysette Romero Córdova

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

Spring 2020

Abstract

As students or professors with children to raise, we inherently experience law school differently from our male and childless peers—and not in a good way. Even before the pandemic hit, the Moms of Law were at a disadvantage because we must divide our time and attention between the demands of law school and parenting. Thus, while the pandemic has created challenges for everyone involved in legal education, the inequitable impact on those raising young children has brought new meaning to the term “mommy track.” Part I of this essay describes the mommy track experience and how the inequity that it creates has been exacerbated by the ongoing pandemic. In Part II, I share my own law school experience as a mom with a young child to raise, and Part III describes the struggles I face as a professor and stay-at-home mom as a forced consequence of the pandemic. Ultimately, I conclude that without the support Moms of Law need, the pandemic could force faculty and students alike out of legal education entirely.

Publication Title

Journal of Legal Education

Volume

69

Issue

3

First Page

681

Last Page

688

Keywords

Millennial Law Professors, COVID-19

Recommended Citation

Lysette Romero Córdova, "Mommy Track" on Steroids: How the Pandemic is Further Derailing "Moms of Law", 69 Journal of Legal Education 681 (2020).
Available at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/law_facultyscholarship/905