Two UCLA law graduates surveyed 178 random UCLA law students and  found that minorities still face “racial unevenness.”   Writing in the 2013 Berkeley Journal of African-American Law & Policy, the two identified a number of areas where minorities felt that they were treated differently. Twenty two per cent of minority students claimed to feel  unwelcome or disrespected by a professor because of race and 43 per cent of minority students felt the same by another student.

More obstacles

Seventy six per cent of minority respondents agreed that they faced more obstacles than their white classmate, the study reports. White students said they did not share this experience. The research, carried out by Jonathan Feingold and Doug Souza, explored the racial dynamics on the  prestigious Berkeley campus and blamed the structure of law school for the findings.The two made a number of recommendations and suggested these be applied to all law schools and not just Berkeley. However, the UCLA dean, whilst welcoming the study, defended the school’s record, pointing out that the law school leads the top 20 law schools in the US on diversity.