“We are a huge source of labor”: Exploring STEM Graduate Students’ Roles in Changing Departmental Climate

Abstract

This qualitative case study was part of a larger, multi-year National Science Foundation funded project that centered upon a networked improvement community (NIC) of nine institutions seeking to improve racial climate in STEM graduate programs. We were particularly interested in the role of STEM graduate students at two NIC institutions in changing their departmentalclimates and their experiences engaging in this work as they were socialized to their disciplines/fields. We found that STEM graduate students had a multifaceted role that combined being catalysts of change, laborers, and supplements for faculty. STEM graduate students, particularly racially minoritized women, were compelled to initiate change and to engage in labor to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion, since they could not wait for faculty and administrators to act. While STEM graduate students used their agency to engage in work that they believed was necessary, it negatively affected their well-being and academic success, limited their access to professional opportunities, and unintentionally perpetuated faculty inaction. Our findings highlight the asymmetrical nature of bi-directional socialization since graduate students can initiate efforts to improve climate but have limited power to implement change. Furthermore, our work calls for faculty and administrators to fully take up the labor of improving racial climate and to alleviate the burdens placed upon graduate students.