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Dr. Fiona Kay is Professor in the Department of Sociology at Queen’s University. Her research is in the areas of inequality, professions, and law. She has examined the impact of gender, race and ethnicity on hiring, promotion, and earnings, as well as the ways that organizational practices and workplace cultures shape opportunities and rewards. Her recent work with Dr. Elizabeth Gorman (University of Virginia) examined organizational initiatives aimed at general skills development and the consequences for racial minority diversity within elite professional service firms, as well as the influence of corporate clients in promoting diversity in professional service firms. Her collaborative work with Dr. Robert Granfield (SUNY Buffalo) explored lawyers’ pro bono (voluntary) service and its contribution to access to justice. In current projects, she examines careers among Canadian lawyers, shifting jurisdictional boundaries among legal professions (notaries, lawyers and paralegals), and the education and regulation of paralegals.

Professor Kay’s research is published widely in a variety of peer-reviewed journals, including: American Sociological Review, Social Problems, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Research in Sociology of Work, Journal of Professions and Organization, Advances in Life Course Research, Sociological Inquiry, British Journal of Sociology, Canadian Review of Sociology, Journal of Criminal Justice, and Crime and Delinquency. Her work has also been published in numerous law and law-related journals, including: Law & Society Review, Law & Policy, Law & Social Inquiry, Canadian Journal of Law and Society, Studies in Law, Politics & Society, The International Journal of the Sociology of Law, The International Journal of Law in Context, McGill Law Review, Osgoode Hall Law Journal, Studies in Law, Politics and Society, and The Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies.

She has also published chapters in several edited volumes and annuals, including Annual Review of Law and Social Sciences, The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, and Global Pro Bono: Diffusion, Contestation, Learned Lessons. She is author (with John Hagan) of Gender in Practice: A Study of Lawyers’ Lives(Oxford University Press) and editor (with Richard Johnston) of Social Capital, Diversity, and the Welfare State(University of British Columbia Press).

Her research has been covered by media outlets such as Law Times, National Post, National (magazine of the Canadian Bar Association), Lexpert, Precedent, Toronto Star, CBC News, and the Globe and Mail.

Presently, Professor Kay is engaged in three projects: (1) a thirty-year longitudinal study of the careers of lawyers in Ontario; (2) a twenty-year longitudinal study of notaries and lawyers in Quebec; and (3) a mixed-methods study of paralegals and professional regulation.  Research projects have been funded by grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Law School Admission Council, the Law Foundation of Ontario, the Law Society of Ontario, and the Canadian Bar Association.

Professor Kay teaches courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels on the sociology of law, sociology of professions, gender and crime, and research methods.

Professor Kay welcomes students to undertake graduate research projects in the study of work and occupations and the sociology of law. She also encourages undergraduate and graduate students to apply for research assistant positions.

• Sociology of law
• Work and occupations
• Life course research
• Quantitative and mixed methods

• SOCY458: Law in global context
• SOCY457: Law & social inequality
• SOCY305: Sociology of professions
• SOCY389: Gender & crime
• SOCY210: Social research methods

Journal Articles

Kay, Fiona M. and Elizabeth Gorman. 2024. “The Customer is Always Right? Corporate Client Influence and Women’s Attainment in Large US Law Firms.” Journal of Professions and Organization 11(3)

*Winner of the Best Paper Award, Journal of Professions and Organization.

Kay, Fiona M. 2023. “Revolving Doors: Social Dimensions of Law Firm Culture and Pathways out of Firms.” Law & Social Inquiry. 48(4):1181-1209.

Kay, Fiona M. and Robert Granfield. 2022b. “Altruism at Work: An Integrated Approach to Voluntary Public Service among Private Practice Lawyers.” Law & Social Inquiry 1-39. See:

Kay, Fiona M. and Robert Granfield. 2022a. “When Altruism is Remunerated: Understanding the Drivers and Targets of Voluntary Service among Lawyers.” Law & Society Review 56(1): 78-100. See:

Wallace, Jean E. and Fiona M. Kay. 2022. “Supportive Relations in a Feminized Occupation: How Male and Female Veterinarians Compare.” Canadian Review of Sociology 59: 4-22. See: .

*Winner of the Top Cited Article 2022-2023 Canadian Review of Sociology.

Kay, Fiona and Martine Rondeau. 2020. (in print 2022) « La culture des cabinets d’avocats et la rétention des avocats et avocates. »  Sociologie et sociétés 52(2): 221-250. See:

Gorman, Elizabeth H. and Fiona M. Kay. 2020. “Skill Development Practices and Racial-Ethnic Diversity in Elite Professional Firms.” Research in the Sociology of Work 34: 115-145.

Choroszewicz, Marta and Fiona Kay. 2020. “The Use of Mobile Technologies for Work-to-Family Boundary Permeability: The Case of Finnish and Canadian Male Lawyers.” Human Relations 73(1): 1-27. See:

Kay, Fiona M. 2019. “Social Capital, Relational Inequality Theory and Earnings of Racial Minority Lawyers.” Research in the Sociology of Work 32:63-90.

Book Chapters

Kay, Fiona M. and Martine Rondeau. In Press.  “Gender Inclusivity in the Legal Profession: Career Opportunities and Workplace Climate.” Chapter in Tracey Adams (Ed.).  Research Handbook on the Sociology of Professions. (Toronto, ON: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited).

Kay, Fiona M. 2024. “Gender and Crime.” Pp. 239- 258 in Neil Boyd (Editor). Understanding Crime in Canada. (Third edition). Toronto, ON: Emond Montgomery Publications.

Choroszewicz, Marta and Fiona Kay. 2022. “Understanding Gender Inequality in the Legal Profession.” Pages 127-149 (Chapter 6) in Richard Abel, Hilary Sommerlad, Ole Hammerslev, and Ulrike Schultz (editors). Lawyers in the 21^stCentury: Comparing Legal Professions Thirty Years after Lawyers in Society. Volume 2. Oxford, UK: Hart Publishing. See:

Granfield, Robert and Fiona M. Kay. 2022. “Pro Bono Legal Work in Canada.” In Scott L. Cummings, Fabio Costa Morai De Sa E. Silva, and Louise G. Trubek, 112-143. Global Pro Bono: Diffusion, Contestation, Learned Lessons. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Kay, Fiona M. 2019. “Gender and Crime.” Pp. 215-236 in Neil Boyd (Editor). Understanding Crime in Canada. (Second edition). Toronto, ON: Emond Montgomery Publications.

Kay, Fiona M. 2019. “Launching Careers in Law: Entry to First Jobs after Law School.” Pp. 95-113 in Marta Choroszewicz and Tracey L. Adams (eds.). Gender, Age and Inequality in the Professions. New York, NY: Routledge Press.

Deflem, Mathieu & Fiona M. Kay. 2019. “Legal Profession.” In The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology, Second Edition, edited by George Ritzer and Chris Rojek. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.

2023    “Corporate Clients and the Progress of Women in U.S. Law Firms.” Transformations in Global Law Firms. University of Virginia Law School, Charlotteville, Virginia, USA, 19-20 October 2023.

2023    “The Impact of Experiences of Marginalization on Women’s Career Progress and Attrition from Law.” Annual Meeting Research Committee on Sociology of Law, Lund University, Sweden, 30 August to 1 September 2023. (with Jean Wallace)

2023    “Post-pandemic, Re-engaging Students in the Large Lecture Class: Help for Worn-down Instructors.” Centre for Teaching and Learning Showcase of Teaching conference, Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada, 3 May 2023.

2022    “Revolving Doors: Social Dimensions of Law Firm Culture and Pathways out of Firms.” JustineS Colloque: Justice et inégalités au prisme des sciences sociales. Institute D’Etudes Avancées de Paris. Paris, France. 23-24 November 2022.

2021    “Law Firm Culture and The Revolving Door for Women Lawyers.” Suites, Streets, and States: A Conference Celebrating the Research of John L. Hagan. American Bar Foundation, Chicago, IL. May 31, 2021.

2020    “Skill Development Practices and Racial-ethnic Diversity in Elite Professional Firms.” Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics (SASE) Virtual Conference, July 2020 (with Elizabeth Gorman).

2019    “Supportive Relations in a Feminized Occupation: How Male and Female Veterinarians Compare.” Canadian Sociology Association Annual Meeting, Canadian Congress, Vancouver, British Columbia, June 2019 (with Jean E. Wallace).

“Corporate Clients and the Progress of Women in U.S. Law Firms.” Law & Society Association Annual Meeting.Washington, D.C., June 2019 (with Elizabeth Gorman).

2024         Top Cited Article 2022-2023 Canadian Review of Sociology. Wallace, Jean E. and Fiona M. Kay. 2022. “Supportive Relations in a Feminized Occupation: How Male and Female Veterinarians Compare.” Canadian Review of Sociology 59: 4-22. See: .

2024         Best Paper Award, Journal of Professions and Organization: Kay, F., & Gorman, E. (2024). “The Customer is Always Right?  Corporate Client Influence and Women’s Attainment in Large U.S. Law Firms.” Journal of Professions and Organization, 11(3). See:

2024         Lorne Tepperman Outstanding Contribution to Teaching Award, Canadian Sociology Association.

2022         Recipient of The Chancellor A. Charles Baillie Teaching Award, Queen’s University ($5,000 prize)