A Critical Race Theory Assessment of Law Student Needs

Abstract

Background/Context: Law students of color have been struggling to recover from the heightened challenges they endured during the first two years of the pandemic. Struggles with food insecurity, financial anxiety, and emotional strain contribute to declining academic success for populations that were marginalized on law school campuses long before COVID. Legislative support is necessary to support students through this era so they can maximize their full potential. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: The study seeks to understand law students’ challenges during COVID and consider ways that administrators, legislators, and others can ameliorate their struggles. The objective is to provide greater support to already marginalized students during a time of significant stress and pressure. The focus of the study is on serving the needs of students of color, particularly women of color (drawing from an intersectional raceXgender framework from critical race theory). Research Design: The article draws on data from the Law School Survey of Student Engagement (LSSSE). With participation from partner law schools, LSSSE collects annual longitudinal data from law students, now housing responses from almost 300,000 students over 19 years. This study of law student needs draws from more than 13,000 responses collected in spring 2021, highlighting findings from the Coping with COVID module, a short set of questions focused on anticipated student challenges during the pandemic. The article presents findings disaggregated by race as well as raceXgender to underscore ways that COVID deepened existing disparities and heightened challenges for already vulnerable populations. Conclusions/Recommendations: The article concludes with recommendations for both institutional and legislative solutions to the identified student struggles. Law schools must allocate greater resources to student needs that range from mental health counseling to academic support—and only after first identifying the unique challenges facing women of color and other students traditionally left at the margins. Legislators must recognize that law students, while privileged in many ways, nevertheless need ongoing support to meet their basic needs; they should consider expanding Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to cover law students, providing more financial aid and loan forgiveness, and prioritizing rental assistance so that law students can focus on their academic success and reach their full potential as attorneys.