Fit Your Own Oxygen Mask First: The Contemporary Neoliberal University and the Well-Being of Legal Academics

Abstract

Research in several countries has confirmed earlier studies showing the well-being of law students may decrease significantly during their legal education. As law schools are expected to respond to these findings, attention is moving towards the well-being of legal academics themselves, since their direct interaction with law students may help prevent the decline of law student well-being, if not positively promote their well-being. There is a paucity of research on the well-being of law teachers and their capacity to support student wellbeing. However, there is an increasing number of broader studies on the likely effects of the neoliberal university on staff and students. This chapter follows and complements an earlier paper reporting on results of national surveys of UK and Australian law teachers conducted in 2015 and 2017.