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The academic staff are also research active in the areas of Family Law, Criminal Justice, the general area of Human Rights and Discrimination, and the development of legal education.
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Towards Social Justice for Student-Parents: Learning from lived experiences to address social injustice for undergraduate students with parental responsibility in the UKOver the past two decades, students with parental responsibility have been encouraged into university by successive governments’ Widening Participation (WP) and Lifelong Learning agendas but have been consistently let down by a failure on behalf of institutions and policy makers to provide appropriate support for this cohort once they arrive at university. As such, student-parents have been unable to participate in their education on an equal footing with their non-WP peers, and in being expected to adapt to systems and expectations neither designed for nor accommodating of their needs, they have experienced a socially unjust higher education journey. This commentary introduces two research projects which produced original insight into the lived experiences of undergraduate student-parents in the UK and presents nine publications emanating from these projects, with a view to testing the following overriding thesis: ‘A socially just higher education experience for student-parents can be facilitated by gaining a rich insight into their lived experiences and from this, developing mechanisms to respond to their needs.’ The commentary explores the originality of the publications, evaluates their contribution to the literature and to the student-parents’ agenda, and presents two new models to address social injustice for student-parents. The influence, impact, and policy and practice implications of the work presented are considered, and evidence is put forward to demonstrate that the work presented has facilitated, and will continue to facilitate, the journey towards social justice for undergraduate student-parents in the UK and beyond. The commentary concludes with a consideration of my personal and professional journey in undertaking a PhD by Published Works and evaluates the extent to which this doctoral route is a facilitator of social justice for pracademics in a higher education context.
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Student-parents’ experiences of personal and academic support in UK higher education: barriers and challenges to equality of opportunity and policy and practice recommendations to mitigate themThis paper discusses the findings of a study of students with parental responsibility (student-parents) in England and Scotland. Exploring participants’ experiences of pastoral and academic support during their university journey, the study builds on previous small-scale research projects into the needs of student-parents (Todd, 2023a; 2023b) and was undertaken in the wake of both the UK's Universities and Colleges Admissions Service's (UCAS) new question inviting student-parents to self-identify when applying to university and the 2023 introduction of the Office for Students’ (OfS) Equality of Opportunity Risk Register (EORR) for institutions based in England. The study's findings reveal pockets of institutional good practice but also systemic failures in pastoral and academic support for student-parents across the sector, which pose a considerable risk to their retention, progression and success. This paper links these failures to the risk factors identified in the EORR, explores recommendations for practice to minimise these risks, and shares the findings that contributed to the OfS's decision, in January 2024, to include student-parents in the EORR, meaning all providers in England will now be obliged to have regard to this cohort in their Access and Participation planning.
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A guide to supporting student parents at university: part threeIn the final piece in her series, Andy Todd explores ways personal tutors can help their tutees transition into university smoothly
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A guide to supporting student parents at university: part twoThe second in a three-part series provides detailed, practical guidance on how student parents can be supported to succeed at UK universities
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A guide to supporting student parents at university: part oneThe first in a three-part series provides an overview on how student parents can be supported to succeed at UK universities
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Five Top Tips for Supporting Flexible Working in the Legal SectorWomen in Law Pledge signatories met at a recent round table to discuss flexible working and how it can be used to promote the progression and retention of women in the legal sector. Our Women Solicitors Network committee co-chairs Chantal Davies and Liz Turner explore the findings of the discussion and set out five top tips to support you with your approach to flexible working.
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Menopause and the Legal Sector: A Call for Awareness and ActionThis article celebrates World Menopause day and calls on the legal sector to reflect on the importance of increasing awareness and activity to support those experiencing the menopause while pursuing a legal career in the profession.
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Supporting Parents Through Their Studies: Insights from the University of Chester and QAAThis blog for HE Professional provides research-informed insights into how providers can best support students with parental responsibility through their studies.
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The Student-Parent's Guide to Open DaysThis short guide is to help you feel in control of your open day experience. It will help you gather the information you need to make an informed decision about whether the setting you're visiting is right for you and your family commitments.
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‘It’s both a blessing and a curse’: law firm attitudes to Qualifying Work Experience in England & WalesWith the advent of the Solicitors’ Qualifying Exam (SQE), Qualifying Work Experience (QWE) allows for flexibility in the journey to qualification as a solicitor in England & Wales that was not previously permitted by the Period of Recognised Training. This development was heralded as a lever to widening access to the profession, with the potential to assist those who may not have been recruited onto traditional graduate-level training programmes in securing a qualified legal role. This paper discusses the findings of empirical research conducted by the authors with a view to understanding the perceptions of, and attitudes towards, QWE of those responsible for recruitment in UK law firms. It reveals a friction between the perceived, and actual, value of QWE obtained via non-traditional routes and exposes the threat that law firm stances on QWE pose to the regulator’s aim of widening access to the profession.
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A Practical Guide to Embedding Commercial Awareness into your CurriculumThis chapter aims to equip lecturers with the tools they need to embed ‘commercial awareness’ in their teaching. The meaning of commercial awareness is explored and the arguments in favour of students developing this attribute are discussed. The chapter then introduces two examples from the law schools of UK universities where commercial awareness has been embedded. The first example concerns a very practical module which was specifically designed to ensure commercial awareness was at its core. The second example used student and employer partnerships to add commercial awareness to an established module which had a lot of ‘textbook’ learning but little real-world application. The examples provided offer lecturers with step-by-step toolkits to facilitate the creation of their own learning activities which embed commercial awareness. The positive impact of integrating commercial awareness is highlighted using feedback from students who have experienced these modules.
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Law in ActionThis case study considers the impact on student wellbeing of 'Law in Action', a Level 6 module co-constructed with students. The module aims to empower students to appreciate their transferable skills, understand how to articulate them to themselves and future employers, how to identify, and deal with, imposter syndrome, and to appreciate the importance of self-care and mental wellbeing within the legal profession.
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From a blank piece of paper to a compelling employability narrative: student-designed authentic assessment for creating socially responsible, employable graduatesAgainst a backdrop of increasing focus on graduate employability and employment outcomes (Bathmaker 2021) and increasing investment in widening participation programmes (Hutchinson, Reader and Akhal, 2020), this case study considers how handing over the reins and taking a student-led approach to module development has enabled students to develop a compelling employability narrative (Tomlinson, 2017; Tomlinson and Anderson, 2021), to better understand social responsibility and confidently articulate their skills for work.
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International Women's Day: Reflecting on the next 100 yearsIn December, the Law Society’s Women Solicitors Network Committee hosted the newly named Carrie Morrison Lecture at the University of Chester Law School, bringing this annual lecture event focusing on gender equality within the legal sector to the regions for the first time. Building on our 100 Years of Women Solicitors celebrations in 2022, this was an opportunity to reflect on past achievements but more importantly to look forward to the next hundred years. A thought-provoking keynote was provided by Victoria Evans (Level Law) ably supported by a panel of sector representatives; Deyontae James (rradar Law) and Carla Bennett (UNISON).
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Student-Parents' experiences of academic and non-academic support in UK Higher EducationThis report analyses the findings of a nationwide study of students who are also parents (student-parents). Carried out between May and August 2023, the study builds on previous small-scale research projects into the needs of student-parents1 and was undertaken in the context of: • the introduction of a new UCAS question inviting student-parents to self-identify when applying to university; and • the introduction of the Office for Students’ (OfS) Equality of Opportunity Register (EORR). This report explores participants’ experiences of pastoral and academic support at university. It exposes systemic failures in such support for student-parents across the sector which pose a significant risk to their retention, progression and success. Parental responsibility is not currently identified by OfS as a standalone characteristic likely to place students ‘at risk’ at university. However, the findings of this study reveal that student-parents are in fact vulnerable to five of the six ‘on course’ risks identified in the EORR. This three-part clickable report provides a compelling evidence base to support the inclusion of parental responsibility in the EORR list of student characteristics.
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The Personal Tutor's Guide to Supporting Student-Parents in Higher EducationThis research-informed, evidence-based, peer reviewed toolkit aims to assist personal tutors to provide effective support to their student-parent personal tutees.
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The Student-Parent’s Guide to Navigating UniversityThe Student-Parent Guide to Navigating University is a research-informed, evidence-based, peer reviewed toolkit which has been published via the UCAS (Universities & Colleges Admissions Service) website
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Law Students as Active Citizens: Instilling a Career-Long Commitment to Pro Bono and Social Justice via the CLE CurriculumBy engaging in pro bono work whilst at university, students demonstrate that they are good citizens. Students perform a valuable service for members of the local community, and the skills they learn enhance their ability to secure, and succeed in, a graduate role. But is this enough? Should we, as clinical legal educators, be doing more to facilitate students becoming active (and not just good) citizens, who know not only how to ‘do’ pro bono, but who also actively engage with the why of pro bono? Can facilitating a critical understanding of the political and social backdrop to the need for pro bono advice engender a genuine commitment to social justice which students can take with them into their working lives? This paper explores the drivers for an ‘active citizenship’ approach to pro bono learning and reflects on the pilot year of a student-led module aimed at fostering social responsibility and a strong sense of social justice to achieve a long-lasting commitment to pro bono in the lawyers of the future
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An Exploration of the Perceived Gendered Impact and Implications of Shared Parental Leave on the Career Progression of Solicitors in England and WalesOver 100 years since the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 lifted the prohibition of women practicing law in England and Wales the number of women practising as solicitors has overtaken men. However, women continue to be underrepresented in the senior positions in the solicitors’ profession. Existing literature has identified that the solicitors’ profession is underpinned by a masculine workplace culture, and that sex, motherhood, and childcare responsibilities present obstacles for women to progress to the senior positions in the solicitors’ profession. In 2015 the UK Government introduced shared parental leave (SPL), a modest reform of childcare leave, enabling working mothers to transfer maternity leave and pay to the father from as early as two weeks after the arrival of a child. SPL is intended to help women to retain and improve their position in the UK labour market by encouraging fathers to share childcare more equally from birth. The object of this research is to examine whether SPL effectively addresses the gendered obstacles related to childcare responsibilities faced by women to career progression in the solicitors’ profession. To achieve this, the research employs a socio-legal methodology with a qualitative empirical approach using a student focus group, a qualitative questionnaire and 24 interviews with participants with experience working at solicitors’ firms based in England and Wales. This research finds that childcare and the perception that women will become mothers with childcare responsibilities is an underlying obstacle to career progression in the solicitors’ profession. This research also finds that shared parental leave is ineffective at challenging the obstacles to career progression because of barriers preventing parents from taking up SPL. Participants recommended changes to SPL and the introduction of additional mechanisms to encourage higher levels of take-up of SPL by parents working in the solicitors’ profession. This research proposes pointers for action by individual law firms, regulatory bodies, and the UK Government to increase the efficacy of SPL at addressing the gendered obstacles related to childcare responsibilities faced by women to career progression in the solicitors’ profession.
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Happy anniversary to the women in law pledgeOpinion piece on anniversary of women in law pledge
