Working in the shadows of professionalism: An investigation into the career experiences and dynamics of paraprofessionals

This project extends knowledge on the career dynamics and experiences of paraprofessionals, while aiming to contribute to their career outcomes and meaning making. In modern societies, people seek meaning at work through their careers. This can be embedded in the pursuit of a calling, the realisation of authentic selves or feelings of success and status. While career scholars have investigated the career experiences of many occupations, this study focuses on paraprofessionals. Paraprofessionals are defined as persons "to whom a particular aspect of a professional task is delegated but who is not licensed to practise as a fully qualified professional" (Oxford Dictionary, 2015). They include nurses, support staff in the academic profession and, this study's focus, paralegals in the legal industry. What distinguishes paraprofessionals from their professional counterparts is their lack of professional status. One way how professionals obtain status, and hence meaning, is through established career trajectories. However, paraprofessionals have remained excluded from these. In addition, it is assumed that their work gives them little room for personal development or advancement. Often tasks are considered to be mundane and repetitive. Hence, characteristics that we associate as providing meaning in our careers do not seem to apply to paraprofessionals. So what does the concept of the career represent to them and where do they find meaning?

Paralegals make up 54,000 of the legal workforce in England and Wales, more than the combined number of solicitors and barristers. Hence they significantly contribute to legal work. Yet, to date they have remained in the shadows of those with professional status as academic research has focused on understanding the experiences of lawyers and barristers. Until recently, paralegals were excluded from professional career trajectories if they do not have a training contract. While many aspire to become professional solicitors, this has presented a barrier to their career mobility. In 2014, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) introduced the 'equivalent means scheme' as an alternative career path built on practical experience rather than educational qualification. Yet, given the timeliness, its effect still remains little understood.

This multi-method study aims to provide understanding of the career dynamics and experiences of paraprofessionals, particularly paralegals, by interviewing paralegals, lawyers, HR professionals, professional bodies and clients. A qualitative methodology was chosen that combines data collection techniques, ensuring the academic rigour of the study:
- Part 1 investigates the career experiences of paralegals in law firms and alternative business structures (ABS) across England. 50 participants will be interviewed and through an innovate arts-based methodology, drawings of their experiences will be collected to uncover the felt experiences.
- Part 2 captures the narratives of 10 members of representative bodies to illuminate their perceptions of paralegal work and ongoing initiatives aimed at improving career prospects. It particularly seeks to understand if there is a conflict for professional associations in protecting professional standards while opening up career trajectories.
- Part 3 provides knowledge on organisational and social dynamics. A comparative study of 3 law firms will analyse the influence of organisational practices on paralegal careers. In addition, by interviewing 30 paralegals, law firm partners, solicitors, HR professionals and clients, it investigates the underpinning social dynamics.

The implications of this study could be transformative to paraprofessionals and the professions generally, as well as paralegals and the legal profession specifically. The research will make important contributions to knowledge by pushing disciplinary and methodological boundaries as well as having significant impact for non-academic audiences.

This project has been designed to maximise impact for its identified beneficiaries by disseminating the findings to a broad range of beneficiaries. The main beneficiaries include: 1) paralegals, 2) law firms, 3) professional bodies such as the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and the Law Society as well as other representative organisations such as the Institute of Paralegals (IOP) and the National Association of Licensed Paralegals (NALP), 4) the legal profession more broadly as well as 5) the general public as a community of interest. The potential impact of this study can be grouped under two categories: knowledge and understanding and activity, behaviour and progression.

One of the proposed outcomes of this study is to foster mutual understanding, collaboration and exchange of knowledge between the PI and participants in the study as well as participants among themselves.

First, by providing a better understanding of their work, sense of self and the meaning they attribute to work, there is a potential that this study contributes to the health and well-being of paralegals. Second, this research will provide new knowledge on how organisational practices and processes may influence the work experiences of paralegals, particularly in relation to their career mobility, and it will identify existing practices which will be of significant interest to law firms as well as the legal profession more broadly given its reliance on paralegals for vast amounts of their work. As such it will also provide opportunities for the optimisation and improvement of existing practices and processes, which is relevant to the HR function within law firms.

In addition, this study will enable professional and representative bodies to develop greater understanding of the effectiveness of current initiatives such as the 'equivalent means scheme' which hence will provide opportunities for the optimisation of such initiatives. Moreover, developing knowledge on the challenges paralegals face may also have implications for the legal sector more widely as an improved understanding of the meaning of paralegal work in a contemporary environment of change by lead to improved work practices across the sector.

Finally, it will reach the general public more broadly, providing them with inside into the experiences of paraprofessionals, particularly paralegals, by for example exhibiting the research at the Museum of Bath at Work. In addition, the dynamics underpinning the legal profession, particularly in relation to social exclusion and its influence on career mobility are of interest to the broader public as evidenced in recently publicised research conducted by the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission proposing that law firms conduct 'Poshness tests' for new candidates, where hiring decisions are largely made based on socioeconomic background, one's ability to communicate in an eloquent manner and a general 'aura of polishedness'.