Davies, Chantal

Steel, Wendy

ChesterRep

       This work has been submitted to ChesterRep – the University of Chester’s online research repository    http://chesterrep.openrepository.com   Author(s): Wendy Steel ; Chantal Davies   Title: An examination of the perceptions of UG law students in relation to the depiction and representation of female lawyers in the media and film   Date: 11 September 2014   Originally given at: Approaches to Inequalities: Perspectives from Higher Education Conference 2014   Example citation: Steel, W., & Davies, C. (2014, September 11). An examination of the perceptions of UG law students in relation to the depiction and representation of female lawyers in the media and film. Unpublished conference presentation given at the Approaches to Inequalities: Perspectives from Higher Education Conference 2014, at the University of Northampton   Version of item: Given at conference    Available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10034/348446  Student perceptions of media representation of female lawyers An examination of the perceptions of undergraduate law students in relation to the depiction and representation of female lawyers in the media and film.A small scale qualitative case study of perceptions and opinions of first & final year law students.Wendy Steel. Senior Lecturer in law @ University of Chester.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LS37SNYjg8w&feature=share&list=RDLS37SNYjg8wHarry Enfield BBCObjectives of sessionBackground to research projectMethod & methodology of the projectResults of research Macaulay (1987) Asimow (2000), Greenfield, Osborn & Robson (2010),Lucia (2005) Machura (2013) Statistics: Lawyers in practice                Law students Law students @ Chester. (67% female) Law society annual statistical report 2010. SRA  Diversity Monitoring Statistics 201253%47%Female/Male lawyers 2011men womenmale 38%female62%Female/male law students enrolled in law society 2010male femaleTop of profession ? Number of barristers – 50% women Number of Queen’s Counsel – 12% Number of  High Court Judges.- 15% Source :http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/‘It is tiring to have to be talking about why  we have so few women in the higher ranks of the judiciary….but we do have to talk about it because the present situation is terrible’Baroness Hale 2013 Daily Telegraph interview.Baroness Helena Kennedy ‘Eve was framed’1993Current & historical discourses. Cultivation effect of media portrayal.  Gerbner (1973),Machura & Ulbricht (2001), Macaulay (1987) Media Portrayal of female lawyers in film/television.  Greenfield, Osborn & Robson (2010),Lucia (2005) Machura (2013) Adam’s Rib (1949) The Good Wife (2009-present),Silk (2012 -2014),Justice (1971- 1974 )Methodology Semi structured interviews setting the context. Intervention with film extracts : examples included: Katherine Hepburn in ‘Adam’s Rib’(1949),Julia Roberts & others in ‘Erin Brockovich’(2000),Emma Thompson as Gareth Pierce in ‘In the Name of the Father’(1993),Mary Steenburgen in ‘Philadelphia’(1993),Maxine Peake in ‘Silk’(2012). Subsequent interviews. Limitations: sample size, subjectivity of extracts, suggestibility of students: Sharp (2002),Asimow, Greenfield, Jorge, Machura, Osborn,Robson,Sharp & Socklosie ((2005),Asimow (2000), Papke (1996),Dunwoody & Salzmann (2005)Early analysis of interviews General acknowledgement of  negative  female depictions Acceptance of limitations in the profession based on experience Ability to distinguish between media story and the need to entertain & reality. Expansion of research : More research & questionnaires/collaboration.ReferencesStatisticsThe Judiciary of England & Wales – website belowhttp://www.judiciary.gov.uk/publications‐and‐reports/statistics/diversity‐stats‐and‐gen‐overviewThe Law Society – Entry Trends  Law Society's annual statistical report, 2010. http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/careers/becoming-a-solicitor/entry-trends/accessed 23/04/14ArticlesBarnett,Emma(2013) Britain's most senior female judge: our legal system is still not promoting enough women. Daily Telegraph 15/03/13http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-business/9933203/Britains-most-senior-female-judge-Baroness-Hale-our-legal-system-is-still-not-promoting-enough-women.htmlReferencesBooks.Asimow M & Mader S ‘Law & Popular Culture: a course book’ Peter Lang publishing, New York (2013)Kennedy H ‘ Eve was Framed ‘2nd revised edition  (2005) Vintage London Gerbner, G (2002) Growing up with television: The Cultivation Perspective. In Media effects : advances in theory and research. 2nd ed. Jennings Bryant & Dolf Zillman eds. Hills Dale, NJ: Erlbaum.Greenfield,Osborn & Robson ‘Film and the Law’ (2010) Hart PublishingDenvir ed. ‘Legal Reelism- Movies as Legal Text’ (1996)University of Illinois pressLucia,C ‘Framing Female lawyers’(2005) University of Texas pressGreenfield & Osborn ed ‘Readings in Law & Popular Culture’ (2006) Routledge CavendishGies Lieve ‘Law and the Media’(2008) Routledge CavendishSchultz Ulrike & Shaw Gisela ed. ‘Women in the World’s Legal Profession’(2003) Hart Publishing.Portland Oregon.JournalsAsimow,Greenfield et al ‘Perceptions of lawyers- a transnational study of student views on the image of law & lawyers’ International journal of Legal Profession, Nov 2005.References Asimow Michael, ‘Bad Lawyers in Movies’ (2000) Nova law Review. Sharp, Cassandra ‘ Scarlet Letter or Chastity Belt? What Legal Dramas of the Twenty first Century are “Telling” Law Students About a Career in Law ‘ Legal Ethics 2002 vol 5 Machura Stefan & Davies Llewelyn,’Law is an Odd Thing – Liberalism and Law in the TV series “The Good Wife” Krim Journal 45 2013. Robson Peter, ‘Women Lawyers on Tv – the British experience’- paper delivered to University of Chester forum May 2014.References continued.Filmography.Adam's Rib, director: George Cukor, USA,1949Silk, (TV series, UK 2012 -2014)Erin Brockovich, director: Stephen Soderbergh,USA,2000Philadelphia, director: Jonathan Demme,USA,1993In the Name of the Father, director: Jim Sheridan,USA,1993.Legally Blonde, director: Robert Luketic,USA,2001Judge Judy, (TV series, USA 1996-present)The Good Wife, (TV series, USA 2009 to present)Contact details Wendy Steel  W.steel@chester.ac.uk 01244 513434 Senior Lecturer Law School 67 Liverpool Road University of Chester CH1 4 BJ

An examination of the perceptions of undergraduate law students in relation to the depiction and representation of female lawyers in the media and film

       This work has been submitted to ChesterRep – the University of Chester’s online research repository    http://chesterrep.openrepository.com   Author(s): Wendy Steel ; Chantal Davies   Title: An examination of the perceptions of undergraduate law students in relation to the depiction and representation of female lawyers in the media and film   Date: 3 September 2014   Originally given at: Visualising Law and Gender Conference   Example citation: Steel, W., & Davies, C. (2014, September 3). An examination of the perceptions of UG law students in relation to the depiction and representation of female lawyers in the media and film. Unpublished conference presentation given at the Visualising Law and Gender Conference 2014 at the St Mary's University   Version of item: Given at conference    Available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10034/348447  Student perceptions of media representation of female lawyers An examination of the perceptions of undergraduate law students in relation to the depiction and representation of female lawyers in the media and film.A small scale qualitative case study of perceptions and opinions of first & final year law students.Wendy Steel. Senior Lecturer in law @ University of Chester.Objectives of sessionBackground to research projectMethod & methodology of the projectResults of research Macaulay (1987) Asimow (2000), Greenfield, Osborn & Robson (2010),Lucia (2005) Machura (2013) Current & historical discourses. Cultivation effect of media portrayal.  Gerbner (1973),Machura & Ulbricht (2001), Macaulay (1987) Media Portrayal of female lawyers in film/television.  Greenfield, Osborn & Robson (2010),Lucia (2005) Machura (2013) Adam’s Rib (1949) The Good Wife (2009-present),Silk (2012 -2014),Justice (1971- 1974 )Methodology Semi structured interviews setting the context. Intervention with film extracts : examples included: Katherine Hepburn in ‘Adam’s Rib’(1949),Julia Roberts & others in ‘Erin Brockovich’(2000),Emma Thompson as Gareth Pierce in ‘In the Name of the Father’(1993),Mary Steenburgen in ‘Philadelphia’(1993),Maxine Peake in ‘Silk’(2012). Subsequent interviews. Limitations: sample size, subjectivity of extracts, suggestibility of students: Sharp (2002),Asimow, Greenfield, Jorge, Machura, Osborn,Robson,Sharp & Socklosie ((2005),Asimow (2000), Papke (1996),Dunwoody & Salzmann (2005)Early analysis of interviews General acknowledgement of  negative  female depictions Acceptance of limitations in the profession based on experience Ability to distinguish between media story and the need to entertain & reality. Expansion of research : More research & questionnaires/collaboration.ReferencesBooks.Asimow M & Mader S ‘Law & Popular Culture: a course book’ Peter Lang publishing, New York (2013)Kennedy H ‘ Eve was Framed ‘2nd revised edition  (2005) Vintage London Gerbner, G (2002) Growing up with television: The Cultivation Perspective. In Media effects : advances in theory and research. 2nd ed. Jennings Bryant & Dolf Zillman eds. Hills Dale, NJ: Erlbaum.Greenfield,Osborn & Robson ‘Film and the Law’ (2010) Hart PublishingDenvir ed. ‘Legal Reelism- Movies as Legal Text’ (1996)University of Illinois pressLucia,C ‘Framing Female lawyers’(2005) University of Texas pressGreenfield & Osborn ed ‘Readings in Law & Popular Culture’ (2006) Routledge CavendishGies Lieve ‘Law and the Media’(2008) Routledge CavendishJournalsAsimow,Greenfield et al ‘Perceptions of lawyers- a transnational study of student views on the image of law & lawyers’ International journal of Legal Profession, Nov 2005.References Asimow Michael, ‘Bad Lawyers in Movies’ (2000) Nova law Review. Sharp, Cassandra ‘ Scarlet Letter or Chastity Belt? What Legal Dramas of the Twenty first Century are “Telling” Law Students About a Career in Law ‘ Legal Ethics 2002 vol 5 Machura Stefan & Davies Llewelyn,’Law is an Odd Thing – Liberalism and Law in the TV series “The Good Wife” Krim Journal 45 2013. Robson Peter, ‘Women Lawyers on Tv – the British experience’- paper delivered to University of Chester forum May 2014.References continued.Filmography.Adam's Rib, director: George Cukor, USA,1949Silk, (TV series, UK 2012 -2014)Erin Brockovich, director: Stephen Soderbergh,USA,2000Philadelphia, director: Jonathan Demme,USA,1993In the Name of the Father, director: Jim Sheridan,USA,1993.Legally Blonde, director: Robert Luketic,USA,2001Judge Judy, (TV series, USA 1996-present)The Good Wife, (TV series, USA 2009 to present)Contact details Wendy Steel  W.steel@chester.ac.uk 01244 513434 Senior Lecturer Law School 67 Liverpool Road University of Chester CH1 4 BJ

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An examination of the perceptions of UG law students in relation to the depiction and representation of female lawyers in the media and film

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