The Action Research Collective: Using Participatory Action Research to Support Graduate Student Development

Abstract

The Action Research Collective:Using Participatory Action Research to Support Graduate Student Development Keneisha Harrington (bio) and Robin Phelps-Ward (bio) Within the last 20 years, graduate student enrollment in the U.S. has increased by 39% (NCES, 2019). Such a growing population of students pursuing postbaccalaureate degrees necessitates that institutional leaders direct more of their efforts and resources to graduate students and their development and socialization (Gardner & Barnes, 2007). The need grows increasingly important when we consider the experiences of graduate Students of Color (GSOC) at predominantly white institutions (PWIs). These students face added barriers throughout their graduate journeys given the legacy of racism embedded within US educational institutions (Brunsma et al., 2016; Gildersleeve et al., 2011; Wilder, 2013). From microaggressions and exclusionary practices to epistemic violence and racial battle fatigue (Clark et al., 2012; Levin et al., 2013), the social sciences literature has highlighted the multitude of ways GSOC experience racism. Further, scholars have continued to underscore the prevailing influence of campus racial climate in relation to GSOC recruitment and retention, noting programs, policies, and practices that acknowledge, address, and disrupt inequities (Griffin et al., 2012). However, the literature dedicated to researching specific diversity, inclusion, equity, and justice (DIEJ) initiatives and their associated effectiveness remains scant (Patton et al., 2010). Thus, in this paper, we focus on a particular student-led organization designed to support GSOC development—the Action Research Collective (ARC)—and briefly discuss the team's history, its research project, and outcomes for its graduate student members determined through an evaluation study. Ultimately, the purpose of this paper is to provide those who support graduate students (i.e., student affairs professionals, faculty) with a participatory action research team model to support graduate students' development and belonging, as well as their skills as emerging scholars. ARC is a team of graduate students (predominantly Students of Color) who organized during the fall of 2016 at Clemson University, a large, public research university in the South, to respond to the institution's racist campus climate. Although student-led activism against campus racism had been brewing for many years at the university, tensions reached a pinnacle during the #SikesSitIn sparked by a racist campus incident. The student sit-in lasted more than 12 days, garnered national attention, and led to an administrator's decision to arrest five students who resisted demands to end their protest inside a campus administrative building. [End Page 736] ARC formed in response to the racial tensions at Clemson and sought to address the racist campus climate while building community and professional development opportunities for GSOC at the university. With the guidance of a tenure-track, higher education faculty member (Robin Phelps-Ward) who secured financial support from the graduate school (to provide professional development funds up to $500 to involved students), a small group of nine graduate students mobilized as a team. While the initial goals of the team focused on the students' individual professional development through research, the group ultimately decided to form an action research collective to address inequities and improve the university's campus racial climate (Hurtado et al., 1998). Within the initial months of organizing, students shared their experiences at the university navigating racism—on campus, in the community, in classes, and in interactions with peers—as well as the challenges they encountered gaining access to their graduate programs. Additionally, the team engaged in reflective prompts, group storytelling, and scholarly reading about the experiences of GSOC to define the group's purpose and goals. Based on these activities, the team collaboratively decided to engage photovoice methodology (Latz, 2017; Wang, 1999) because of its ability to powerfully illustrate experiences and potential effectiveness in reaching graduate education leaders at the university with the power to provide additional resources for GSOC and change inequitable policies, practices, and processes. At the time of this manuscript's authorship, ARC includes 23 student members, four faculty members, and several alumni who now work as student affairs professionals at various universities across the country. During the first three years of ARC's existence, the team focused on designing a photovoice research project, collecting and analyzing data, and sharing findings with peers, colleagues, and the broader research community at...