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Strategically Diverse: An Intersectional Analysis of Enrollments at U.S. Law Schools

Author

Listed:
  • Nicholas A. Bowman

    (University of Iowa)

  • Frank Fernandez

    (University of Florida)

  • Solomon Fenton-Miller

    (University of Iowa)

  • Nicholas R. Stroup

    (Ohio University)

Abstract

Legal education scholars have argued that law schools strategically use Students of Color for enrollment management purposes; they can admit more to meet admission targets, but they should not enroll so many that they need to open new course sections. As law school applications decline, we analyze enrollment panel data reported to the American Bar Association. We find that examining the intersection of race and gender matters for understanding the ways that law schools are strategic about diversity in enrollment management. For each group (e.g., Black women, White men), law schools balance higher enrollment in one year with lower incoming enrollment of that same group in the subsequent year, thereby working against the racial diversification of legal education and the legal profession. In some instances, higher enrollment in one group (e.g., Hispanic women) also leads to higher enrollment in the subsequent year among incoming students with the same race but different gender (e.g., Hispanic men). This analytical approach—informed by intersectionality—reveals that differential race x gender patterns would be overlooked in analyses that solely focused on race while not considering gender. Moreover, the results are generally robust across models examining both the number and percentage representation of incoming students. Finally, we find evidence that these balancing dynamics are sometimes more pronounced at law schools with higher median LSAT scores, which are typically most selective. We discuss implications for equity in legal education and future research directions for graduate and professional education.

Suggested Citation

  • Nicholas A. Bowman & Frank Fernandez & Solomon Fenton-Miller & Nicholas R. Stroup, 2024. "Strategically Diverse: An Intersectional Analysis of Enrollments at U.S. Law Schools," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 65(6), pages 1163-1184, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:reihed:v:65:y:2024:i:6:d:10.1007_s11162-024-09787-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s11162-024-09787-6
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Hausman, Jerry, 2015. "Specification tests in econometrics," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 38(2), pages 112-134.
    2. Nicholas A. Bowman & Nicholas R. Stroup & Solomon Fenton-Miller, 2023. "The Enrollment of Racially Minoritized Students in Law School: Factors Predicting Within-School Changes Over Time," The Journal of Higher Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 94(5), pages 557-580, July.
    3. Charles Ka Yui Leung & Joe Cho Yiu Ng & Edward Chi Ho Tang, 2020. "What do we know about housing supply? The case of Hong Kong SAR," Economic and Political Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(1), pages 6-20, January.
    4. Jessica C. Harris & Lori D. Patton, 2019. "Un/Doing Intersectionality through Higher Education Research," The Journal of Higher Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 90(3), pages 347-372, May.
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