I Agree, Release the Data

Steve at Begging to Differ thinks Harvard Law Review should release the data regarding gender and their selection proces. I agree. As Steve says:

If indeed they spent thousands of hours crunching the numbers, and if indeed the numbers show men outpace women in grades and legal writing, well, let’s see those numbers. Don't just throw it out there and expect anyone to take your word for it.

If the numbers show the disparity, then we know that the point of attack should not be at the selection process, but in the training and testing of the students. But if they don't, then we know the problem is with the Law Review. And Sasha Volokh's whole "the Law Review's selection methods are not the HLS community's business" is way off base. Though it is a private organization, it is a student organization affiliated with the university, using the law school's name, and profiting thereby. No organization at Harvard may discriminate on the basis of sex (ask President Summers why fraternities and sororities are not allowed on campus), and the community has a right to verify that the law review is not engaging in such discrimination.

That said, I would be surprised if there was such discrimination. That doesn't mean there's not a serious problem at Harvard (and at UVa, and I assume at our sister law schools). Women as a group ought not be systematically "underperforming" according to the law school rubric, and if they are, I for one think it's a problem with the rubric. So perhaps the law review itself doesn't deserve the heat it's getting, but if they'd release the numbers we'd know where to look for the source of this disparity.