A report carried out by the university’s Office of Evaluation shows that almost half of the law students are considering taking a break from their studies. High demands are thought to be one of the reasons for this. Kajsa Magnusson is enrolled in the Bachelor’s program in Law and has taken two breaks.
– Out of my original group of friends only two graduated on time, she says.
The report deals with the study environment at Lund University and is based on questionnaire answers from almost 1000 students. The students have been asked if they are thinking of taking a break from or quitting their studies. Out of the law students 46 percent say that they have been considering taking a break from their studies.
– I can imagine the reason for this being the fact that it is a long program that also is very broad. This means that you will study things that you do not find very interesting or fun, says Kajsa Magnusson.
During her third semester, Kajsa Magnusson had fallen behind and had to work hard to catch up. After that, she took a one-year break and went to Argentina to study Spanish. That was something she had been planning for a long time.
– It enabled me to do some soul-searching and come to the conclusion that this was something that I really wanted to do.
“Generous attitude toward taking a leave of absence”
After her fourth semester, Kajsa Magnusson took another break for one semester in order to be the Program Manager at AF. Despite the law program really only allowing one year-long break without specific reasons she never felt that the faculty had any objections. According to Stephan Gavare, who is the department manager at the Department of Law, they are deliberately permissive.
– We have had a pretty generous attitude toward taking a leave of absence and have not really had any reason to review it.
JF will investigate further into the matter
Martin Andersen, president at the Law Student’s Union – Juridiska Föreningen (JF), does not necessarily think it is a problem that many students take breaks from their studies.
– It all depends on the reason for the break. The results of this study have given us reason to look further into this, and if the answer is for natural reasons then there is no problem while if the answer for example is stress or the study environment then it is clearly something we have to work on.
Few want to drop out
Many law students might want to take a break. But dropping out is not an option for as many. Only about 15 percent think along those lines, which is the lowest ratio out of all the faculties. Kajsa Magnusson however is not representative in this regard.
– Of course I have considered dropping out. This may be because I came across the law program by chance while others have wanted to study law since high school.
However, it now seems she has decided that she wants to become a lawyer. This spring, she will start her eighth semester and believes she will have an advantage in having done other things during her years of study.
– I think you become a better lawyer if you have done other things as well, but you should do what feels best for you. I know others who have taken a break from their studies and end up never coming back, she says.
Translation: Karin Briheim
Text: Sebastian Hagberg
Considering a break from their studies
Considering dropping out
LTH: Lunds tekniska högskola
S: Samhällsvetenskap
N: Naturvetenskap
EHL: Ekonomihögskolan
HT: Humaniora och teologi
J: Juridik
M: Medicin
