How are race relations on law school campuses?

The answer to that complex question depends on who you ask. A mere 40% of minority women students surveyed as part of a new study on their law school experience gave race relations on campus a positive rating. That figure was 70% among white male students.

That stark disparity is among the hundreds of data points compiled in "Women of Color–A Study of Law School Experiences," a joint research effort between the NALP Foundation and the University of Texas School of Law's Center for Women in Law. The report claims to be the first in-depth look at how and where the law experience of minority women differs from that of their white and minority male classmates. Researchers hope that the findings will spur law schools to examine their practices and find ways to better support their minority women students. That, in turn, may help bolster the number of women in the legal profession, they say.

"There was this hunch that there was a disparity and a difference in what women of color experienced as they went through law school, but no one had quantified that," said Veronica Vargas Stidvent, the executive director of the Center for Women in Law. "A lot of the focus has been on practitioners. This is the first study to look at: What happens in law school that begins to shape those legal careers, and disparities in the legal profession?"

Researchers surveyed more than 4,000 law students—nearly 800 of whom are minority women—on 46 law campuses during the 2017-18 academic year. The survey asked about everything from their classroom experiences and their employment support to their grades and expected level of debt from law school.

The overarching takeaway from the extensive study is that minority women are less satisfied with their law school experience than their white peers. Among minority women, 82% reported that they were "satisfied" with their law school experience, compared with 89% of white women. Just 30% of minority women said they were "extremely satisfied" with their law school experience, compared with 44% of white men.

Among other findings:

• Nearly a third of minority women, 31%, reported having seriously considered leaving law school, compared with 24% of white women and 22% of white men. Not enjoying law school; financial debt; and not fitting in socially were the most commonly cited reasons minority women gave for why they had considered leaving law school.
• Minority women expect to graduate with more educational debt than their white peers. Among minority women, 41% anticipate having more than $100,000 in educational debt, compared with 29% of white women and 28% of white men.
• More than half of minority women, 52%, said they have had adverse interactions with classmates or faculty that negatively impacted their academic performance. Just 21% of white men reported such interactions. Minority women also reported feeling less comfortable raising their hand in class than their white peers.
• Just 6% of minority women 2Ls said they applied for clerkships, compared with 21% of white men and 12% of white women. Among minority women, 47% said they were encouraged to apply for a clerkship, compared with 55% of white men and women.

One bright note among the data, according to NALP Foundation president Fiona Trevelyan Hornblower, is that minority women law students on the whole have more interaction with career services offices. The survey data show that they are more likely to attend career services events, and they reported having a supportive career services office as one of the most important factors in obtaining a job. White men, by contrast, were far more likely to rank grades as a key to finding employment. That disparity is one area that law schools can focus on, in terms of ensuring that all students understand the factors that employers tend to weigh most heavily, including the importance of grades, Vargas Stidvent said.

"This is a starting point for a lot of further discussion, because the data shows some interesting disparities in very different issue areas," she said. "This, I think, will generate a lot of conversations in law schools, with employers, and among students that really delve deeper into why these differences are occurring and what can be done about them."