AccessLex Resource Collections (AccessLex Institute)
Not a member yet
537 research outputs found
Sort by
Contending With Group Image: The Psychology of Stereotype and Social Identity Threat
No full textTopics discussed in this chapter include the following: generalizability of stereotype threat effects, the nature of stereotype threat, moderation of stereotype threat effects, mediators of stereotype threat, toward a general theory of social identity threat, and remedying the detrimental effects of stereotype and social identity threats
A Better Bar: Why and How the Existing Bar Exam Should Change
No full textDespite the fact that competent lawyers should possess a wide range of knowledge, skills, and qualities and the fact that different kinds of lawyers need different strengths, the entire process used to select lawyers - from the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), through law school, and up to the bar exam - overemphasizes some skills and completely disregards others. Those most likely to become lawyers are those equipped to take timed tests that emphasize the ability to analyze and apply legal rules. Although these abilities are important, they certainly are not the only ones competent lawyers need. In fact, a blue-ribbon commission of lawyers, judges, and law professors conducted an in-depth study and concluded that competent lawyers must also be able to do legal research, conduct factual investigations, problem solve, communicate effectively, counsel clients, negotiate, organize and manage legal work, recognize and resolve ethical dilemmas, and, in some instances, litigate and effectively use alternative dispute resolution procedures. Most of these skills, however, are not tested on the bar exam, are only cursorily assessed during law school, and are not factored into the law school admissions process. Further, qualities like a demonstrated commitment to promote social justice, a sense of fairness and morality, and the willingness to perform public service activities, although given lip service, are not accounted for in any meaningful way in the process of deciding who may get a law license.
This Essay focuses on the bar exam, the final step in the process of deciding who may practice law. Currently, the exam is over-inclusive, allowing those with a very narrow range of skills to obtain a law license. It is also under-inclusive. By testing a very narrow range of skills in a way that is unrelated to the practice of laws and via a methodology that is weighted in favor of those from middle- and high-socioeconomic backgrounds, the existing bar exam delays or excludes people from the practice who may be competent lawyers and who may be the lawyers most likely to do pro bono work and serve underrepresented ommunities. This Essay explores ways to modify existing bar examination requirements to account for the wide variety of skills, knowledge, and qualities competent lawyers should possess, keeping in mind that all lawyers need not possess exactly the same proficiencies. This Essay suggests that the concept of a competent lawyer should be defined broadly in order to account for a wide variety of qualities and skills, perhaps even including an applicant\u27s commitment to perform public service and serve underrepresented legal communities
Increasing Diversity Benefits: How Campus Climate and Teaching Methods Affect Student Outcomes
No full textThis study explored the relationship between student diversity, campus climate, faculty composition, and research and teaching content. Data came from three primary sources: a 1992-93 survey of college and university faculty, which provided information on full-time faculty from 344 institutions; the Higher Education Governance Institutional Survey database, which provided data on student body racial composition at 244 institutions; and the Carnegie Foundation, which provided data from their classification system for colleges and universities. Four outcomes related to maximizing the benefits of racial diversity in teaching and learning were considered: (1) teaching practices associated with active learning; (2) curricular inclusion of readings on diverse racial and ethnic groups; (3) faculty participation in research on race, ethnicity, or gender; and (4) faculty attendance at workshops on racial awareness or curriculum inclusion. Minority faculty were dramatically under-represented at all levels of higher education. Research and doctoral institutions were the most diverse. However, their faculty were the least likely to use active learning techniques or curriculum inclusion or to have attended racial awareness workshops. Simply admitting more minority students did not produce substantial changes in teaching approaches or content. Women and minority faculty were most likely to participate in teaching and learning activities supporting diversity
Does the LSAT Mirror or Magnify Racial and Ethnic Differences in Education Attainment: A Study of Equally Achieving Elite College Students
No full textAn older scientific study confirming the bias for the LSAT test. Kidder argues that after controlling for multiple variables (students with equivalent GPA and college choices), the LSAT still culturally biased and created a barrier for law school. The reliance on LSAT scores especially with the focus on racially blind admissions procedures is detrimental to minority students
Raising the Bar: A Social Science Critique of Recent Increases to Passing Scores on the Bar Exam
No full textMore than one quarter of all states have toughened bar exam standards in recent years, with other states poised to follow suit. About one-third of exam takers from ABA-accredited schools now fail the bar exam on the first attempt. Many of these students would have passed the bar five years ago, before states started raising their passing scores. These higher passing scores raise important policy issues about competition, diversity, and access in the legal profession. In many states, moreover, the new scores rest on a flawed statistical process. Bar examiners, unaware of these defects, are setting arbitrary passing scores that most likely exclude qualified applicants. This article explores both the policy issues surrounding recent increases to bar passing scores and the methodological defects in the statistical process used to set those scores. The analyses are important, not only for assuring fair access to the legal profession, but as a case study of the ways in which flawed statistical processes can affect policy outcomes
Linking Diversity and Educational Purpose: How Diversity Affects the Classroom Environment and Student Development
No full textThis study examined the impact of diversity on students\u27 self-perceived improvement in the abilities necessary to contribute positively to a pluralistic democracy. It noted how such diversity-related campus activities as exposure to multicultural curricula and opportunities to study and interact with diverse peers affected student development. The study also examined the influence of faculty gender and race/ethnicity on classroom strategies and curriculum supporting diversity. Data came from the 1989-90 Faculty Survey administered by UCLA\u27s Higher Educational Research Institute, which included responses from faculty at 159 predominantly White institutions nationwide. Longitudinal student data were also examined to understand the link between activities associated with diverse students and faculty and student self-reported growth on 20 general educational outcomes. Student responses came from a 1987-91 student survey, also administered by UCLA\u27s Research Institute, which involved 4,253 students from 309 predominantly White, four-year institutions. Data analysis indicated that faculty gender distinctly impacted students in terms of how classes were taught and course content. There was a significant relationship between student growth on various educational outcomes and activities during college associated with having a diverse student body and faculty
Portia Denied: Unmasking Gender Bias on the LSAT and Its Relationship to Racial Diversity in Legal Education
No full textCurrently, the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) is the foremost gatekeeper to obtaining a legal education at schools accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA). In this Article I analyze the causes, consequences and fairness of gender and racial/ethnic differences on the LSAT. In Part I, I review the history of women\u27s representation in legal education, and note the present gender gap in LSAT performance. In Parts II and III, I attempt to remedy a deficit in the current literature by documenting how the LSAT decreases women\u27s and (particularly) minorities\u27 admission opportunities in the 1990\u27s, even compared to men and Whites who had similar accomplishment levels over four years of college. As a way of studying the impact of current definitions of merit, I compare present admission practices with two admission models based on undergraduate grade-point averages. Either alternative admission model results in the admission of about two thousand more women to ABA schools, and would create overall gender parity in legal education.
In Part IV, I summarize the statistical methods for evaluating the significance of score differences on the LSAT between two test takers, and I review professional standards for appropriate test use. I then contrast the lack of statistical significance--between two test takers--of the modest LSAT gender gap with the practical consequence of LSAT misuses in admissions, financial aid allocation, employment decisions and school funding. Finally, in Part V, I review the educational literature regarding the sources of potential LSAT test bias. I argue that the strong possibility of bias in forms such as stereotype threat, speededness, subject matter selection and item bias, undermine claims by test producers that the LSAT is fair--or even meaningfully standardized --in its treatment of women and racial/ethnic minorities
Faculty Diversity as a Clinical Legal Education Imperative
No full textClinical legal education has rapidly evolved from a novelty or boutique offering in law school curricula to a relatively settled and accepted component of the academy. Much has been written about the composition of law and university faculties, the value of faculty diversity in university and traditional law school educational settings, and proposals for reform. However, scant attention has been paid to the composition of the increasingly significant cadre of law professors engaging in clinical teaching and scholarship and the educational and social consequences of the demographic distribution of clinical faculty positions. In this article, Professor Dubin examines and analyzes the demographic data on clinical faculty representation, the major rationales for clinical faculty diversity, and the obstacles to attaining greater diversity. He concludes with a series of recommendations for reform
LSAC National Longitudinal Bar Passage Study
No full textThe Law School Admission Council (LSAC) National Longitudinal Study was undertaken primarily in response to rumors and anecdotal reports suggesting bar passage rates were so low among examinees of color that potential applicants were questioning the wisdom of investing the time and resources necessary to obtain a legal education. This study presents national longitudinal bar passage data gathered from the class that started law school in fall 1991. Data provided by students, their law schools, and state boards of bar examiners over a 5-year period are included in the summaries and analyses in the report. Summary statistics, graphical illustrations, and mathematical models were used to analyze and present the data. The eventual bar passage rate for all study participants was 94.8% (21,886 of 23,086). The eventual passage rate for all participants of color was 84.7%. The passage rate was lowest for African Americans (77.6%, or 1,062 of 1,368) and highest for White participants (96.7% or 18,664 of 19,285). Eventual pass rates were substantially higher than initial pass rates, and there were no differences in bar passage rate between men and women. Both law school grade point average and Law School Admission Test (LSAT) scores were the strongest predictors of bar examination passage for all groups studied. Although students of color entered law school with academic credentials, as measured by undergraduate grade point average and LSAT scores that were significantly lower than those of white students, their eventual bar passage rates justified admission practices that look beyond those measures. Five appendixes contain forms used to conduct the survey, some data analysis, and an explanation of the use of log odds
The Threat to Diversity in Legal Education: An Empirical Analysis of the Consequences of Abandoning Race as a Factor in Law School Admissions Decisions
No full textThe use of affirmative action policies in school admissions has been a continuing source of controversy. In the wake of Hopwood, it is unclear if their continued use will even be possible. In an effort to inform the debate, Professor Wightman has engaged in a comprehensive empirical analysis to examine the impact of abandoning considerations of race and ethnicity in the law school admission process. Using data obtained from students who applied to law schools in 1990-1991 and from Fall 1991 first-year law students, she examined the likely effects of an admission policy that relied exclusively on LSAT scores and undergraduate grade-point averages. Countering arguments that affirmative action policies merely reallocate minority students among schools, Professor Wightman’s study indicates that such a “numbers only” policy would result in a sharp increase in the number of minority applicants who would be denied access to a legal education, not just at the schools to which they applied, but to any of the law schools included in the study. In striking contrast to the decline in admission rates, Professor Wightman found no significant differences in the graduation rates and bar passage rates between those minority students who would have been accepted to law schools and those who would not. Thus a “numbers only” policy would deny a legal education to many minority applicants who were fully capable of the rigors of legal education and of entering the legal profession. Professor Wightman also examined whether any of several factors, such as socioeconomic status, could serve as an effective proxy for race and ethnicity in order to achieve a diverse student body. None of the factors she studied indicated satisfactory results. In short, Professor Wightman’s study shows that affirmative action policies are likely a necessary prerequisite to maintaining a diverse yet capable law school student body