Increasing Law Student Belonging: Student Services Professionals as Cultural Navigators

Abstract

Students undergo a transformation during law school. The process of socialization and professional identity formation is challenging for all students, but can be more fraught for those whose values conflict with the traditional elitist, white, male norms of legal education. Difficulty in the socialization process can also impede belonging, stymying well-being, and academic success. To ease this transition and promote other benefits, academic advisors, career counselors, and other student services personnel can serve as “cultural navigators” to decode and demystify law school and the legal profession. This article investigates whether and how students’ identity characteristics are related to their sense of belonging in law school and, additionally, whether and how satisfaction with student services affects students’ sense of belonging. Our results indicate small differences in sense of belonging related to identity characteristics and a robust relationship between satisfaction with student services and sense of belonging. These findings suggest that satisfying relationships with law school student services professionals acting as cultural navigators may be key to improving students’ sense of belonging.