Legal News

Legal Academia ? Family Friendly, or Not?

By Jamie Heller

Is legal academia family friendly?

That’s the Law Blog twist on a question raised by an opinion column in today’s WSJ. The column looks at a study of why academia broadly is filled with more “liberals” than conservatives. The paper’s columnist homes in on this part of the study’s conclusion: conservatives are less likely to get doctorates because they “express far greater interest in financial success and stronger desire to raise families” than liberals. The idea it seems is that academia is not family friendly. Among other purported reasons, the article says, is that professors have to grade well into the evening.

The WSJ columnist seems unconvinced that academia is a raw deal for all-in-the-family types. She quotes Ilya Somin, a law professor at George Mason University, as saying on the Volokh blog: “Relative to other professional jobs, academic careers are quite family friendly. Unlike most professionals, professors have a high degree of control over their schedules [and] can do a higher proportion of their work at home.” He also cites tuition benefits that many colleges offer.

LB readers, earlier today we wrote about life as a large-firm associate, a fate few would nominate for its work/life balance benefits. Is legal academia better? And sure, if you want to talk about whether it’s also more liberal than conservative, be our guest. And have a good weekend!

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on February 29, 2008 (boomark / email).