The making of Aotearoa | New Zealand lawyers: a longitudinal study of law students and law graduates

ABSTRACT From 2014 to 2019 the authors conducted a longitudinal study of a self-selected of cohort of students enrolled in undergraduate law programmes at three New Zealand universities. This article reports the experiences and reflections of 75 cohort members who participated in all seven data collections. By the end of the study, most of the cohort of 75 were engaged in legal work. Results are discussed in the light of four factors influencing student persistence, engagement, and self-efficacy. Results provide data on the nature of participants’ pre-university backgrounds and characteristics; the nature of formal learning opportunities offered to them while at law school and the frequency and ways in which they participated in those activities; their relationships with their teachers and peers; and external events occurring while they were studying that had an adverse impact on their studies. We cannot offer evidence as to how these influences combined to influence the persistence, engagement or self-efficacy of individual students or the wider cohort, but we report commonalities and trends in responses. Also reported is data relating to the cohorts employment destinations and experiences. Areas for further, empirical study are identified, including the need for research on groups under-represented in this cohort.