L23 - Choosing Career Paths: Can We Distinguish Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, & Ravenclaw? Flashcards
Sheldon and Kreiger’s description of the life of a lawyer
Depression
Anxiety
Substance Abuse
Career dissatisfaction
is the training environemnt of law school responsible?
what aspects of law education play a negative role?
What is Krieger’s Hypotheses?
“What we’re not telling law students - and lawyers - that they really ought to know: some thought toward revitalizing the profession from its roots” 1998
“the hidden sources of law school stress: avoiding the mistakes that create unhappy and unprofessional lawyers” 2005
“intense pressure and competitive success norms reorient students away from positive personal interests and values and towards rewards and more image based values, leading to a loss of self-esteem, life satisfaction, and well-being”
What is law school like?
Competition, rank, status
- for academic superiority
- for placements
excessively abstract, analytical teaching
teaching practices are isolative and intimidating
A research design to examine the motivational effects of law school
follow over 600 students at two large law schools from early on intheir first year through until graduation
one school is top-rated and reputed to be intensely competitive (Slytherin) whereas the other is moderately rated and reputed to be more student-centered (Hufflepuff)
assess a host of motivational, academic, and well-being otucomes over the 3-year period
Self-Determination Theory Constructs
Life goals:
- intrinsic vs. extrinsic aspirations
Motivational for Law School goals
- intrinsic, identified, introjected, extrinsic
Need satisfaction
- autonomy, competence, and relatedness
– “I felt my choices were based on my true interests and values”
– “I feel capable in what I did”
– “I felt close and connected to other people who are important to me”
Perception of Autonomy Support
- “Most instructors provide me with choices and options”
- “Feel able to share my feelings with most of my teachers”
- “Generally listen to how I would like to do things”
Outcomes
GPA
Career choices
- high $ and prestige - coporate, tort, medical malpractice
- high idealism - legal services to poor, public defender
Licensing exam
Well-being
- positive and negative affect
- life satisfaction
Are law students different from other students to begin with?
on well-being and on aspirations?
yes
they have higher well-being AND higher life goals than others
How does well-being, life values, motivation, and need satisfaction change in law school?
does the well-being change persist over year2 and 3?
SLIDE 13
their levels in these concepts lower
Do the changes in motivational variable mediate the drop in well-being? Do these varaibels relate to GPA? Does GPA relate to career choices?
correlations with decrease in well-being
decrease in intrinsic values, r = .17
decrease in autonomous motivation, r = .19
decrease in need satisfaction, r = .21
Does the motivational climate of the law school affect well-being?
School differences were mediated by perceived autonomy support and need satisfaction
control for LSAT’s and college GPA
But is it possible that Slytherin students learn more and shine in the future?
mutli-state Bar exam
- Hufflepuff has a higher % of passes
Are the high prestige lawyers happier in the future?
level of job satisfaction
do you want your children to go into this profession?
- “I feel like I am working in a nicely decorated sweatshop”
How school climate impacts
Hufflepuff vs. Slytherin
-> perceived autonomy support
- enhanced autonomy satisfaction
– greater self-determined career motivation
– better SWB
– higher graded achievement
- enhanced relatedness satisfaction
– greater self-determined career motivation
– better SWB
– higher graded achievement
- enhanced competence satisfaction
– greater self-determined career motivation
– better SWB
– higher graded achievement
But what do you do if you only get into Slytherin?
Chapter 13 of Deci’s book: Being Autonomous Amidst Controls:
- Causality orientation:
- promoting one’s own development
– finding support; managing your manager (Professor Snape example)
- managing one’s own experiences
– emotion regulation - awareness + flexibility
– behavior regulation – feedback and flexibility (My Prof Dumbledore example)
– The Happy Lawyer
Happiness and Lawyers
lawyers with lowest pay report more happiness
the factors most frequently associated with success in the legal field, such as high income or a partner-track job at a prestigious firm, had almost zero correlation with happiness and well-being
- lawyers in public-service jobs who made the least money, like public defenders or Legal Aid attorneys, were most likely to report being happy