Law Teachers Speak Out: What do Law Schools Need to Change?

Abstract

This Chapter presents the results of national surveys of UK and Australian legal academics conducted in 2017 and explores law teachers’ perceptions of their well-being and of their experience of stress at work. First, we consider the neo-liberal landscape of higher education in the 21st Century, a landscape that provides the context and framework for how law teachers experience law school as a work environment. Second, we explain the methodology and results of the studies conducted in the UK and Australia in 2017. Third, we discuss the themes presenting from the law teachers’ responses to the open question: please explain what you think your university could do to improve staff quality of working life? The Chapter concludes with a suggested to-do list for law school leaders to provide a work environment that better supports the well-being of their academics and in turn enhances their capacity to support law student well-being.