Women are not represented equally on the nation's federal and state judicial benches, according to a new study by the Center for Women in Government & Civil Society at the University at Albany.

 The report, "Women in Federal and State-Level Judgeships," concludes that women account for 22 percent of all federal judgeships and 26 percent of all state judicial positions. Thirteen states fell below the 20 percent mark in state judgeships filled by women. 

While no state has achieved equality in state-level judgeships, eight states have achieved a threshold of 33 percent women, the study found.

"The 33 percent threshold is important because it is the point where women become a critical mass and where their number is large enough to induce change in the normative conception of leadership and to exercise meaningful influence on the cultural norms which stereotype women's roles," said Dina Refki, director of CWGCS.

As for the federal bench, in most states, women make up approximately 20 percent of the federal judiciary. Only two states, New Jersey and Connecticut, achieved critical mass of 33 percent of federal judgeships occupied by women. 

Women's share of the federal bench is at 10 percent or less in eight states, and women judges are nearly absent from the federal courts of Montana and New Hampshire. 

New York is tied for 14th place in women on the state benches, and 18th in the nation for the number of women in federal judgeships.

The report also points out that pockets of disparities exist within states. In New York State's Northern District, a 26-county region, fifteen District and Magistrate judges serve on the bench. None of them are women despite a qualified pool of 359 women judges serving on state-level benches in New York, the report outlines.

 The gender gap in America's judiciary can be attributed to lack of opportunity and access, the report says.

The full report is available on the university's Web site. For more information, see  albany.edu/womeningov.