The Law Society Gazette recently reported that the latest Bar Council’s pupil survey has revealed One in five pupils has personally experienced bullying, harassment and/or discrimination, either in person or online.
The Pupil Survey also reveals that:
- Pupils who reported having a disability were more likely to indicate that their supervisions were ‘mostly’ or ‘all remote’ (29% compared to 11% of those who did not report a disability).
- Disabled pupils were much more likely to report that they were ‘unhappy’ (15%) or ‘very unhappy’ (6%) with their in-person supervision than those pupils with no disability (2% and 1% respectively). There is a similar difference in responses about remote supervision. A fifth (21%) of pupils with a disability said they were ‘unhappy’ or ‘very unhappy’ with their remote supervision compared to just 3% of pupils with no disability.
- Those with a disability were more likely to have had a ‘negative experience’ of their pupillage so far (22% compared to 3% of those with no disability).
- Bullying, harassment and/or discrimination is more prevalent among disabled pupils (41% compared to just 13% of pupils with no disability).
- More than half (53%) of pupils with a disability said they see a career at the Bar as ‘not viable’ (9%) or only ‘somewhat viable’ (44%). The difference in response to pupils with no disability is vast: 2% and 28% respectively.
- Work/life balance — or rather lack of it — was the main reason (26%) given as to why a career at the Bar was potentially not viable. Women (32%) were twice as likely as men (16%) to mention work/life balance. Pupils with a disability were also more likely to mention this (50% compared to 19% with no disability). Pupils with a disability were six times more likely to mention the culture at the Bar (24% compared to 4% of pupils with no disability).
- Most pupils surveyed said they would recommend a career at the Bar to others. Pupils with a disability have a less positive view (15% said they probably would not recommend a career at the Bar compared to just 4% of pupils with no disability).
- Pupils with a disability are less likely to feel ‘quite well supported’ (29%) or ‘very well supported’ (38%) by their chambers than pupils with no disability (38% and 52% respectively).
