Preparing black Caribbean students for the legal profession

UKCLE PDF project

Project leaders: Helen Carr, London Metropolitan University (e-mail:
helen.carr@lawcommission.gsi.gov.uk) and Eddie Tunnah, University of Westminster (e-mail: tunnahe@wmin.ac.uk)
Project summary: an examination of the effectiveness of the undergraduate law curriculum in preparing black Caribbean students for entry into the legal profession
Completion date: March 2004
UKCLE funding: £5,000

Black Caribbean solicitors represent a disproportionately small percentage of practising certificate holders, despite being well represented on undergraduate degree courses. This research project aimed to discover the extent to which undergraduate legal education was a significant factor in black Caribbean students’ decisions not to progress to professional qualification or indeed in their failure to qualify as a solicitor.

Download a copy of the final report from the project, Examining the effectiveness of the undergraduate law curriculum in preparing black Caribbean students for entry into the legal profession (RTF file, 42 pages, 1.66 MB).

Initial quantitative research indicated that a higher proportion of black Caribbean students wanted to work outside the legal profession than wanted to be solicitors. This finding was not replicated in other ethnic groups. When repeated on a larger scale the research indicated that black Caribbean students were disproportionately motivated by aspirations to enter the legal profession when choosing to study law, but that these aspirations declined during the course of the degree. A higher proportion of black Caribbean respondents wanted to work in non-law related work than for any other ethnic group.

A small qualitative component of the project investigated six black Caribbean students’ experience of legal education. This research revealed a lack of understanding of the purpose of the academic stage of a degree, complex repercussions of race and socio-economic status on progression outcomes, and a range of strategies employed to ensure success.

Conclusions

Our research indicates that there are no simple answers within legal education to the under-representation of black Caribbeans within the solicitors profession. However, it also suggests that the academy must recognise that undergraduate legal education is not a neutral endeavour.

Black Caribbean students face multiple challenges and appear to have insight into the structural forces which are impeding their progress, but are accepting rather than angry about the frustrations of their ambitions. We were also struck by the extent of the students’ own ability to devise strategies for success. These were co-operative and supportive, in contrast with the individualistic competitive culture which appears to be the norm amongst the majority of law students. Nor were their expectations unrealistic. Nonetheless, they find success very difficult to achieve.

Legal education has a differential impact upon different ethnic groups. This makes it extremely important that diversity issues are central in teaching and learning strategies and in curriculum design. For instance, academics must recognise that vocational aspirations have an ethnic dimension and that variety in assessment strategies may enable different strengths to be developed. Academics must also understand the impact of family and financial pressures on students and that these too have an ethnic dimension. Academics must resist, however, reaching simple conclusions, for instance that working during the degree is inevitably negative. As our research indicates, it may open vocational possibilities for students who may otherwise be excluded from the legal profession. Family support as well has advantages and disadvantages.

What seems to us most important however is that under-achievement of black Caribbean students within the solicitors profession should be seen as a problem of the profession, which fails to recognise their potential value, rather than yet further evidence of black Caribbean under-achievement. Legal education must resist being part of the problematisation of black Caribbean students and challenge the failure of the profession to recognise the value of black Caribbean students.

Recommendations

The research makes a number of recommendations, revealing as many questions for further research as reaching conclusions:

• The impact of ethnicity on student aspirations appears to be significant. However it is not simple, and in particular we need to avoid treating all ethnic minority students as if their experiences are identical and recognise that there is difference within difference.
• A longitudinal study of LLB students tracking how and why their career intentions change during their study would be very useful.
• Further qualitative work exploring a range of issues:
  • social class and ethnicity
  • gender and ethnicity
  • the aspirations of different ethnic groups
  • the value of the LLB to those who do not wish to qualify as lawyers
  • the impact of family pressures and support
  • whether there is an increasing awareness of the impact of ethnicity on professional success
• Student involvement in curriculum design should be seriously considered. This could be achieved through questionnaires or focus groups.
• Curriculum design teams should attempt to reflect the diversity of their student body, and serious consideration should be given to co-opting experts from black and minority ethnic groups.
• More work is required to make the curriculum responsive to a multi-cultural student body.
• Support should be given to the strategies for success which students devise for themselves.
• Teachers should not assume that black and minority ethnic students have had previous experience of being in a minority in class.
• Serious consideration should be given to diversity issues in LPC induction courses.
• Student support services should not assume that law students will progress automatically to qualification.
• Raising the self esteem and self promotion skills of students is essential.

Outcomes

• Examining the effectiveness of the undergraduate law curriculum in preparing black Caribbean students for entry into the legal profession – final report (RTF file, 42 pages, 1.66 MB)

Last Modified: 4 June 2010