Wellbeing and the Legal Academy

This book provides a novel contribution to the wider bodies of literature on student and academic wellbeing by including a series of rich and nuanced discussions of specific aspects of the wellbeing of legal academics. It contains original research contributions on this topic drawing on insights from law, education and psychology and throws a spotlight on an emerging field of interest. In particular, it focuses attention on the need to understand the implications of workload, communication, competence, and community for academic wellbeing with the collection providing insight as to the amelioration of stress linked to these themes. Reference will be made to the key factors which influence each of these themes, such as the neo-liberal academy, the contours and staffing of the law school, the impact of COVID-19 and the role of values and ethics. Relevant theoretical perspectives relating to these themes, including self-determination theory and the notion of an ethic of care, will also be discussed.

Informs strategic directions for Law Schools wishing to enhance wellbeing of academicsCompares individual and collective interests in employee wellbeingExplores how to balance interests of staff and students to maximize wellbeing