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The Underrepresentation of Women of Color in Law Review Leadership Positions
No full textThe pipeline for women of color joining the law review and ascending into law review leadership positions, such as EIC, is one such site of legal education worth exposing. Part I introduces the problem by examining the limited research that shows a significant underrepresentation of women and people of color in law review leadership positions and by explaining the significance of such research. Part II explores the possible causes of this unfortunate phenomenon by uncovering the challenges that women of color face in obtaining law review leadership positions. Finally, Part III offers potential solutions for increasing opportunities for women of color in obtaining law review leadership positions
The False Choice Between Race and Class and Other Affirmative Action Myths
No full textIn a 2011 discussion among progressive law professors about the likelihood that the U.S. Supreme Court would grant certiorari in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, one professor opined that “working class whites are the problem”—the threat to affirmative action—because they keep standing as plaintiffs in cases like Fisher as well as Gratz, Grutter, and Hopwood before it. In fact, the professor was wrong in two regards. First, she was wrong on the facts: None of the plaintiffs in these germinal affirmative action cases self-identified as low-income, nor did the courts so identify them.
The professor was also wrong on the more important, big picture point. She had bought into the myth that this Article dispels, the widely held belief that we must choose between using affirmative action to support racial and ethnic minorities on the one hand or to achieve socioeconomic diversity on the other. In fact, we need not choose between the two, and we should aspire to diversify higher education— including its most elite sector—with low-income students of all colors
Diversity as a Law School Survival Strategy
No full textOver the past few years, law schools have been dealing with a drastic and, so far, unyielding decline in student interest. Between 2010 and 2013, student enrollments fell almost 25%, to levels not seen in 40 years. This trend has prompted many to wonder what schools have done, and what they can do, to ensure their survival in this new climate. This article explores the extent to which law schools have used students of color, particularly black and Hispanic students, to bolster enrollments and lessen the effects of the downturn. The results of this analysis suggest that a school’s median LSAT score influenced the extent to which the racial composition of its entering classes changed between 2010 and 2013. Black and Hispanic students were critical components of the enrollment management calculus for private law schools with the lowest median LSAT scores. Higher-median schools tended to rely more heavily on white and Asian enrollments to stem declines. These trends led to increased racial and ethnic stratification in law school enrollments, where black and Hispanic students were more likely to attend schools with lower median LSAT scores in 2013 than in 2010, while white and Asian students were more likely to attend schools with higher median scores. Perceptions of law school quality and prestige are greatly influenced by a school’s median LSAT score; therefore, the trend of stratification may only serve to intensify racial and ethnic differences in career paths and trajectories
Implicit Bias and the Legal Profession\u27s \u27Diversity Crisis\u27: A Call for Self-Reflection
No full textRacial and gender disparities persist in the legal profession. A 2013 study commissioned by Microsoft revealed that the diversity gap in the U.S. legal profession has worsened, lagging behind other professions. While many efforts have been undertaken, diversity remains elusive. One reason the diversity efforts have been unsuccessful may be due to a lack of focus on a key reason for the persistent disparities—the “reforms are unlikely to stick until people understand how race actually operates in the brain. The goal of this article is to apply social science insights to understand and address the diversity “crisis.” Social science studies demonstrate that the continued underrepresentation of women and minorities in the legal profession is unlikely due predominately to explicit or “first generation bias,” which involves “deliberate exclusion or subordination directed at identifiable members of disfavored groups Rather, this bias has been supplanted by “second generation” forms of bias, which are attributable to implicit bias
Equating the MBE
No full textThe only constant is change. In the high-stakes testing world, we have to change almost everything each time we administer a test. Because the stakes are high for the bar examination, there are any number of examinees who would dearly love to see items on the MBE before the test is administered. Thus, we wait for a few administrations before we reuse any question, or item, and we use any given item for only a few test administrations before we quit using it forever. Against this backdrop, we also have to ensure that a score we produce retains its meaning across time and space. A score earned in 2013 in New York should have the same meaning as a score earned in 2014 in Guam. We rely on standardized administration of the MBE to ensure that where an examinee sits for the exam (space) does not affect his or her score. To ensure that whether an examinee takes the MBE in 2009 or 2015 or July or February (time) is not a factor, we rely upon equating.
Each time NCBE builds an MBE test, we do our best to choose items that will work the same way as items have in the past. The exam is built according to a detailed subject matter blueprint and statistical criteria that ensure comparability of what is measured across time. (One recent update is the addition of Civil Procedure to the February 2015 MBE, which was a change in content that will continue going forward.) However, with so many items and so much content to cover, it is nearly impossible to build a test that has exactly the same level of difficulty as those previously administered. The overall difficulty of an examination will be slightly different each time. Equating is the process of statistically adjusting scores to account for these differences in difficulty.
In this article, I will describe the process we use at NCBE to develop the MBE so that it can be equated, as well as the process we use in scaling and equating the examination. (29
Borrowing Smarter or Borrowing More? Investigating the Effects of a Natural Experiment in Federal Loan Policy
No full textMuch of the student loan literature focuses on institutional, individual, and familylevel characteristics associated with indebtedness, default, and other undesirable post-graduation outcomes; however, relatively little research examines the role that federal policy has played in student borrowing. This study addresses this gap by analyzing the effects of a change in Stafford loan limits that impacted one subgroup of borrowers. Findings consistently revealed that increases in federal loan limits did not result in students borrowing more. Instead, students utilized newly available Stafford loan dollars to substitute away from other loan sources with less favorable terms, such as private and parent PLUS loans
Legal Education at a Crossroads: A Response to Measuring Merit: The Shultz-Zedeck Research on Law School Admissions
No full textIn July 2014 the number of graduates who passed the bar examination declined at law schools across the country. How could this possibly happen? To be fair, one cannot automatically assume this decline is attributable to lower entering credentials. After all, the median LSAT and grade point averages for the 2011 entering classes were not significantly lower than prior years. Thus, National Council of Bar Examiners (NCBE) President Erica Moeser may have erred when she characterized this year’s test-takers as “less able.” Perhaps the July 2014 bar examination, particularly the Multi-State portion, had flaws in the design or scoring. Alternatively, as Professor Deborah Merritt explains, a flaw in Exam Soft may have contributed to the decline in scores. This is a plausible explanation, in part because an internal review by the NCBE revealed no flaws or “unintended differences in the processes used to perform the equating of a more recent test.”
Thus, if the median LSAT score of the 2011 entering class was similar to prior classes, if the bar examination is not to blame, and if the true cause was a technological glitch, then why should anyone be worried? This article suggests that, regardless of the factors causing the recent decline in bar results, bar pass rates will soon drop significantly due to the four-year decline in LSAT scores at the 25th percentile (and below). In other words, the median LSAT score of a law school can remain unchanged, but the bar pass rate of that school can plummet if the 25th percentile drops. That is precisely what has happened in recent years, and it should stop – now
Diversity in the Legal Profession: Moving from Rhetoric to Reality
No full textThe law is shaped by cultural shifts, and the lawyer is well positioned to play the role of architect. Yet, the legal profession is the least diverse and inclusive profession of all. Despite numerous attempts to create diversity and inclusion within the profession, the legal profession remains today much as it was at its inception. Although sanctions against lawyers who engage in discrimination in employment practices are suggested by diversity groups, those attempts would be costly and duplicative. The author discusses a cross-section of available rules that are less costly, more manageable alternatives. The Article proposes that the goal of diversity and inclusion within the profession cannot be forced, but must be realized through consistent measures aimed at creating accountability, educational awareness, and building supporting connections at each level of the professional hierarchy. Section I introduces the topic. Section II briefly examines the development of the legal profession in the United States along with its long history of exclusion of groups that remain underrepresented in the profession today. It then examines some recent diversity initiatives and explores the reasons why these initiatives have largely failed to achieve the goal of increasing diversity. Section III evaluates the need for additional regulation to achieve diversity and examines alternatives to regulation that have had some success in promoting an understanding of the values of diversity within the profession. The conclusion in Section IV offers recommendations for action to promote diversity
The Kids Aren\u27t Alright: Rethinking the Law Student Skills Deficit
No full textThis article explores the decline of fundamental thinking skills in pre-law students and the challenges facing law schools admitting underprepared students during a time of constrained budgets and declining enrollment. A growing body of empirical research demonstrates a marked decline in the critical thinking and reasoning skills among college graduates. The causes for the decline are interconnected with other problematic changes on undergraduate campuses: 1) a dramatic decrease in student study time since 1960, examining research which suggests that undergraduate students spent 1/3 less time studying in 2003 than they did in 1961; 2) a consumerist orientation among college students, resulting in a diminished focus on learning; 3) grade inflation at undergraduate campuses, resulting in grade compression and an inability to distinguish between exceptional and ordinary students 4) a decline in undergraduate students choosing to major in liberal arts that provide the foundation for early success in law school. Declines in study time, grade inflation, and changing patterns in student class choice have created an undergraduate learning environment that is less rigorous than undergraduate education fifty years ago.
This article challenges law schools to examine the adequacy of traditional support programs when incoming classes require systemic and sustained academic assistance. Law schools have traditionally helped academically underprepared through academic support programs, however, traditional ASPs are not equipped to provide broad-based and comprehensive assistance to large numbers of law students. Law student underpreparedness is a “wicked problem,” so complex that singular solutions are impossible. Law schools admitting substantial numbers of students with lower-levels of academic preparedness need to ask themselves questions to determine how to best address these challenges. The broader legal community should reflect on these questions because the answers will require all stakeholders to invest in changes to undergraduate education as well as legal training
The Human Side of Law School: The Case for Socializing Minority Recruitment and Retention Programs
No full textThis paper explores the importance of social cognition in law school choice. This paper then proposes a three-part recruitment and retention program for minority students: First, how law schools can utilize social interactions through the creation of mentor-mentee relationships between law students and prospective students; Second, an investigation into the rich recruitment potential of hosting social events, such as mock trials and moot courts; and Third, an exploration of the advantages that a vibrant social media presence can have for law schools’ minority recruitment efforts