Making Space for Graduate Student Parents

2008 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 435-457 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristen W. Springer ◽  
Brenda K. Parker ◽  
Catherine Leviten-Reid
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Graduate Student ◽  
Graduate School ◽  
Women In Academia ◽  
Student Parents ◽  
Family Issues ◽  
Work Family ◽  
University Services ◽  
Phd Programs ◽  
Detailed Presentation

Work—family issues of graduate students are nearly invisible, despite record numbers of men and women in graduate school during their peak childbearing years. Furthermore, very little is known about what, if any, services are available for graduate student parents. In this article we describe the theoretical and practical tensions between society's view of idealized mothering and academia's vision of graduate students as idealized workers. We then present results of a survey about parental supports for graduate students administered to graduate directors of sociology PhD programs. The results demonstrate that few official policies exist, most situations are accommodated individually, and graduate directors are often unaware of university services for graduate student parents. The article concludes with a detailed presentation of potential departmental and university initiatives designed to support graduate student parents. These initiatives can be readily incorporated by graduate departments and universities to help curb the leaking pipeline of women in academia.

Understanding Graduate Student Parents: Influence of Parental Status, Gender, and Major on Graduate Students’ Motivation, Stress, and Satisfaction

2022 ◽  
pp. 152102512110722
Author(s):  
Hyeon Jean Yoo ◽  
David T. Marshall
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Graduate Students ◽  
Graduate Student ◽  
Female Students ◽  
Multiple Roles ◽  
Parental Status ◽  
Special Population ◽  
Stem Fields ◽  
Student Parents ◽  
And Gender

Graduate student parents are a unique subpopulation in higher education that accounts for a large proportion of graduate students. While student parents struggle to balance multiple roles, female students in STEM fields may face more significant barriers in balancing family and academic responsibilities compared to male graduate student parents or female students in non-STEM fields. Despite the urgent need to support this special population, little attention has been paid to how parental status, major, and gender affect graduate students. In this quantitative study of 545 graduate students, we examined the influence of parental status, major, and gender on motivation, stress, and satisfaction. A series of factorial ANOVAs found significant differences in motivation and mental health between graduate student parents and non-parents. Our findings highlight the importance of providing adequate resources to graduate students according to their status.

scholarly journals Graduate Students as Independent Instructors: Seven Things to Know about Teaching Your Own Course while in Graduate School

2010 ◽  
Vol 43 (03) ◽  
pp. 557-560 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward M. Burmila
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Novice Teachers ◽  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Graduate Student ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Graduate School ◽  
Teaching Assistants ◽  
Undergraduate Instruction ◽  
Graduate Instructors

AbstractDespite being responsible for a large percentage of undergraduate instruction, graduate students often receive little preparation for their first solo teaching assignments (J. D. Nyquist et al.,Change31 (3): 18, 1999). Furthermore, the existing literature on pedagogy fails to address the unique challenges faced by graduate students who are asked to serve as course instructors rather than teaching assistants. This article presents seven pieces of advice intended to better prepare the predoctoral graduate student to assume the role of the professor before assuming the title. By understanding the attitudes of undergraduate students toward graduate instructors, preparing in advance to handle the mistakes that novice teachers often make, and recognizing the correlation between outward confidence and student perceptions of instructor quality, graduate students can derive the most benefit from a stressful and time-consuming assignment. Most important, graduate instructors can learn to effectively manage the time spent on teaching duties to ensure that other responsibilities such as coursework, qualifying exams, and dissertation research do not suffer.

Postgraduate student of the University: the technology of scientific work and pedagogical activity

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Семен Резник ◽  
Semen Reznik
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Graduate Student ◽  
Graduate School ◽  
Technology Training ◽  
Scientific Work ◽  
Postgraduate Student ◽  
Research And Teaching ◽  
Content System ◽  
The University

Examines the content, system and technology training in graduate school, preparing for independent scientific activities, methodology of scientific work, and gives recommendations for the writing, preparation and defense of a thesis. Much attention is paid to the preparation of a graduate student to work at the Department of the University, the organization and planning of his life and work. For graduate students and degree applicants, as well as for students who want to devote themselves to research and teaching.

scholarly journals PhDepression: Examining How Graduate Research and Teaching Affect Depression in Life Sciences PhD Students

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. ar41
Author(s):  
Logan E. Gin ◽  
Nicholas J. Wiesenthal ◽  
Isabella Ferreira ◽  
Katelyn M. Cooper
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Graduate Students ◽  
Graduate School ◽  
Life Sciences ◽  
Interview Study ◽  
Teaching And Research ◽  
Graduate Teaching ◽  
Research And Teaching ◽  
Graduate Research ◽  
Phd Programs

This interview study of 50 biology PhD students with depression examines how aspects of graduate teaching and research affect depression and how depression affects students’ experiences teaching and researching. This work identifies aspects of graduate school that PhD programs can target to improve mental health among graduate students.

The Relationship Between Perceived Discrimination and School/Work–Family Conflict Among Graduate Student-Parents

2020 ◽  
pp. 089484532091624
Author(s):  
Jordan M. Dolson ◽  
Eric D. Deemer
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Student ◽  
Family Conflict ◽  
Perceived Discrimination ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Academic Program ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Work Family Conflict ◽  
Student Parents ◽  
Work Family ◽  
The Relationship

Work–family conflict (WFC) is commonly experienced by individuals who have roles in both the work and family domains including graduate students with children and/or dependents. Graduate student-parents have the additional strain of school, which can contribute to school–family conflict (SFC) as well. The purpose of this study was to examine whether burnout mediates the deleterious effects of parent-based discrimination on work- and family-related outcomes. We used a mediation modeling design to test whether the distal effects of such bias occur due to increased levels of burnout. Results indicated that burnout mediated the relationship between perceived discrimination and SFC and WFC. The control variables of gender, number of children, year in academic program, and residency status did not significantly predict burnout, SFC, or WFC. Practical and clinical implications are discussed in addition to suggestions for future research.

Orientation Programs for Older and Delayed-Entry Graduate Students

NASPA Journal ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sue Barker ◽  
Ginny Felstehausen ◽  
Sue Couch ◽  
Judith Henry
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Graduate School ◽  
Demographic Variables ◽  
Orientation Programs ◽  
Willingness To Participate ◽  
Delayed Entry ◽  
Interest Level ◽  
Personal Importance

The authors explore the usefulness of orientation programs for students aged 27 and older who delayed entry to graduate school and whether differences in personal importance of orientation programs, willingness to participate in them, and preferences in matters of scheduling and topics. The results indicated that several demographic variables affected the interest level in some topics, suggesting that a cafeteria-workshop style format, which would allow students to select just those sessions that were of interest to them, may be the best for this group.

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