A new study has found that nearly half of Australian law students feel overwhelmed by their law school workload most or all of the time.
The results of Survive Law’s Australian Law Student Satisfaction Survey revealed that 42% of law students regularly felt overwhelmed by their workload, while 53% also said they felt stressed at law school most or all of the time.
The leading causes of stress were:
Balancing study with other commitments (such as work or family) – 34.4%
Trying to get good marks - 23.5%
The amount of study I have to do for my law degree – 16.5%
Finding a job when I graduate – 14.2%
The survey of more than 2,000 law students investigated how satisfied Australian law students were with their law schools.
While many students were satisfied with their law school’s support for their wellbeing, a significant proportion also said that they would not feel comfortable seeking support from staff or from their fellow law students if they were anxious, depressed or struggling psychologically.
45% disagreed or strongly disagreed that they would feel comfortable seeking support from law school staff, while 37% said they would not feel comfortable seeking support from other law students. That compared to 32% who said they would feel comfortable seeking support from staff and 41% who would feel comfortable seeking support from fellow students.
Overall, 19 per cent of students said they were unsatisfied or very unsatisfied with their law school’s support for their wellbeing, compared to 40% who were satisfied or very satisfied.
Survive Law conducted the ALSSS in September and October 2013. View the complete survey results here.
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