After Dark and Out in the Cold: Part‐time Law Students and the Myth of ‘Equivalency’
| Published date | 01 June 2009 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6478.2009.00464.x |
| Date | 01 June 2009 |
| Author | Andrew Francis,Iain McDonald |
JOURNAL OF LAW AND SOCIETY
VOLUME 36, NUMBER 2, JUNE 2009
ISSN: 0263-323X, pp. 220±47
After Dark and Out in the Cold: Part-time Law Students
and the Myth of `Equivalency'
Andrew Francis* and Iain McDonald**
This paper presents the findings of the first major research study of
part-time law students. It argue s that many face multiple dis-
advantages, largely unrecognized by universities, whose emphasis on
the formal equivalency of part-time and full-time law degrees ignores
the distinctive backgrounds and needs of part-time students. As a
result, many are marginalized, impacting on their retention, overall
performance, and work prospects. It is also argued that the context
within which part-time law students experience l egal education
contributes to a collective habitus which may structure what is
`thinkable' for their futures. Such concerns areofparticular
importance given the strong vocational drive amongst part-time law
students. An effective response requires action by both universities and
the legal profession. Without this, part-time legal education will
remain a fundamentally paradoxical experience, offering broader
access to legal practice for non-traditional entrants, while continuing
to inhibit their chances of success by entrenching their difference in the
eyes of the profession.
I think sometimes we feel that the full-time course is dragging the part-time
course along with it. I think it needs to be seen as a separate entity and treated
as a separate entity (7B)
220
ß2009 The Author. Journal Compilation ß2009 Cardiff University Law School. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd,
9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA
*School of Law, Keele University, Staffordshire ST5 5BG, England
a.m.francis@law.keele.ac.uk
** Bristol Law School, UWE, Frenchay Campus, Coldharbour Lane, Bristol
BS16 1QY, England
iain.mcdonald@uwe.ac.uk
We are indebted to the reviewers, from whose thoughtful comments this paper has
benefitted. Our thanks also to Hilary Sommerlad who read, and made valuable
suggestions about, an earlier draft.
INTRODUCTION
Part-time higher education achieved rare prominence with the publication of
Universities UK's Part-time students in higher education ± supporting higher-
level skills and lifelong learning.
1
This argues that while part-time students
represent a significant percentage within higher education, they remain
substantially ignored by researchers and policy makers. While some research
has explored part-time students in general,
2
there is scant analysis of part-time
law students.
3
This group requires closer attention for a number of reasons.
Consideration of part-time law students would shed light on how providers of
`elite' degree programmes, like the LLB, contribute to policies of lifelong
learning and widening participation,
4
particularly since the provision of part-
time law degrees predates the contemporary widening participation agenda. In
addition, closer attention to part-time law students should reveal how law
schools respond to a socially and educationally diverse range of students ± an
issue also of increasing relevance to providers of full-time legal education.
The relationship of legal higher education to the legal profession provides
a further imperative for research.
5
The non-traditional profile of those
studying for part-time law degrees means they represent an important
yardstick with which to measure the profession's claims to equal access.
6
More broadly, Sharpe, drawing on Bauman, suggests that a society defines
itself against `outsiders'.
7
Thus, in analysing part-time law students'
experiences, we may add to an understanding of the groups around which
legal education appears to construct its ideal types.
This paper presents the findings of the first major study of part-time law
students in England and Wales.
8
We argue that many part-time law students
221
1Universities UK, Policy Briefing: Part-time students in higher educ ation ±
supporting higher-level skills and lifelong learning (2006), available at
bookshop.universitiesuk.ac.uk/downloads/policybriefing0.pdf>.
2T.Bourner et al., Part-time Students and Their Experience of Higher Education
(1991); M. Tight, Higher Education: A part-time perspective (1991); and D. Smith
and M. Saunders, Other Routes: Part-time higher educational policy (1991).
3A.Francis and I. McDonald, `Part-time Law Students: The Forgotten Cohort' (2005)
39 Law Teacher 277.
4 HMSO, The Learning Age: a renaissance for a new Britain (1998).
5D.Manderson and S. Turner, `Coffee House: Habitus and Performance Among Law
Students' (2006) 31 Law and Social Inquiry 649, at 666.
6M.Larson, The Rise of Professionalism: a sociological analysis (1977) 51; Law
Society, The Law Society equality and diversity policy and strategy (2005), at
%20Diversity%20Framework%20for%20Action.pdf>.
7A.Sharpe, `Structured Like a Monster: Understanding Human Difference Through a
Legal Category' (2007) 18 Law and Critique 207, at 209.
8Weare hugely grateful to the students and institutions that participated in this study
for their valuable time and cooperation and the Nuffield Foundation, whose funding
support made this project possible: Nuffield Foundation Grant Reference SGS/
00932/G.
ß2009 The Author. Journal Compilation ß2009 Cardiff University Law School
To continue reading
Request your trial