Document Type
Thesis
First Faculty Advisor
Ilisabeth Bornstein
Second Faculty Advisor
Robert Massoud
Keywords
legal studies; Business; problem-solving; undergraduate
Publisher
Bryant University
Rights Management
CC-BY-SA
Abstract
Although the presence of legal studies within undergraduate business curricula is continuously growing, there seems to be a lack of understanding and appreciation for the value that legal studies coursework brings to undergraduate business education. This research aims to determine whether legal studies courses provide undergraduate business students with transferrable non-legal skills, such as problem-solving skills. The goal of this research is to explore the importance of legal studies in undergraduate business curricula by trying to determine if it provides students with valuable skills that can be utilized across disciplines. The methodology of this research is a posttest-only control group experiment using a 12-question multiple choice test made up of 6 practice LSAT questions and 6 practice GMAT questions. Participants were recruited through email, and the test results of 31 students from Bryant University's class of 2023 were collected. The results did not show a significant correlation between the number of legal studies courses and overall test score. In conclusion, the treatment group was not large enough to fully answer the research questions or accurately support or refute the hypothesis.
