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Eleni Meletiadou, London Metropolitan University, United KingdomAbstract
As legal systems increasingly operate within culturally diverse and transnational contexts, legal education plays a crucial role in preparing future lawyers for global citizenship and justice-oriented practice. This paper explores how female law students in Turkey, Portugal, and the United Kingdom understand and engage with cultural expertise, defined as specialised knowledge used to interpret cultural, linguistic, and social difference in legal decision-making, and how gendered educational environments shape their confidence, agency, and ethical responsibility. Drawing on survey data and reflective interviews with 182 law students, the study examines students’ perceptions of the legitimacy of cultural expertise, their preparedness to mobilise such knowledge, and their experiences navigating hierarchical and evaluative legal settings. Findings indicate that while students widely recognise cultural expertise as essential for fair and peaceful resolution of culturally complex cases, women often report heightened self-doubt and perceived professional risk when requesting or relying on expert input, particularly in adversarial contexts. Across national settings, students identify the need for clearer pedagogical guidance, accredited intercultural frameworks, and experiential learning opportunities, such as scenario-based simulations and exposure to expert testimony, to support the development of confidence and ethical judgement. These practices help future lawyers understand cultural differences not as a procedural obstacle but as a central dimension of justice, inclusion, and social cohesion. By foregrounding student perspectives, the paper contributes to debates on global citizenship education and education for peace, demonstrating how gender-responsive legal education can support more equitable and socially responsive legal systems across Europe.
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Conference: ACSS2026Stream: Teaching and Learning
This paper is part of the ACSS2026 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Meletiadou E. (2026) Educating Future Lawyers for Global Citizenship: Gender, Cultural Expertise, and Justice Across Difference in Europe ISSN: 2186-2303 – The Asian Conference on the Social Sciences 2026: Official Conference Proceedings (pp. 443-456) https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2186-2303.2026.35
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2186-2303.2026.35
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