Graduate Students Of Color Research Articles

Integrating sociology: Observations on race and gender relations in sociology graduate programs

Issues related to the integration of race within sociology doctoral programs were explored. Two sets of data were analyzed: open-ended interviews with 26 women of color graduate students and 92 questionnaires completed by Ph.D. programs on faculty, graduate courses, and expertise in race. Quantitative data show that faculty of color are likely to be the one member of their race in the department. EuroAmerican faculty are over-represented in the rank of Full Professor and Associate Professor and faculty of color are under-represented in the tenured ranks. Less than a quarter of departments included the study of race in required theory courses. Departments listing race and ethnicity as a specialty in the area did not always offer graduate courses in the field and courses that were offered did not necessarily focus specifically on U.S. race/ethnic/minority relations, but included international studies and broad topics in social organizations and stratification. Comments by a sample of women of color graduate students point out a number of critical issues: curricula that are outdated, ignore race, are monocultural, and look better in the catalog than in the classroom; faculty that are top-heavy with older White males; students discouraged from pursuing what attracted them to the academy in the first place; and students in conflicts with racial overtones over scarce resources and favors. Qualitative results show that women of color graduate students perceive the inclusion of students and faculty of color to include an acceptance of their racial and ethnic experience in the intellectual and social culture of the department. They linked the goal of integration of the student body and the faculty to be inseparable from integration of race into the curriculum in both required and nonrequired courses, and assigned readings.

Women's Caucus for Political Science to Host Reception for Women of Color Graduate Students

Women's Caucus for Political Science to Host Reception for Women of Color Graduate Students

"The Department Is Very Male, Very White, Very Old, and Very Conservative": The Functioning of the Hidden Curriculum in Graduate Sociology Departments

In this article, Eric Margolis and Mary Romero examine the effect of the "hidden curriculum" on women of color graduate students in sociology. They interview twenty-six women of color enrolled in Ph.D. programs in sociology to uncover how the graduate school curriculum not only produces professional sociologists, but also simultaneously reproduces gender, race, class, and other forms of inequality. In their analysis, Margolis and Romero identify two forms of the hidden curriculum at work: the "weak" form, which is the professionalization process essential to "becoming a sociologist," and the "strong" form, which acts to reproduce stratified and unequal social relations. The numerous quotations from the women graduate students interviewed reveal that many elements of the hidden curriculum — such as stereotyping and blaming the victim — were painfully obvious to them. As Margolis and Romero argue, the women's stories, the authors' analysis, and the publication of this article are forms of resistance to the hidden curriculum, constituting "a lifting of veils to make visible what was hidden."

Promoting the development of graduate students of color

AbstractMulticultural coursework, pedagogy, and support services that honor diverse needs and voices can enhance the environment for graduate students of color.

Peer mentoring among graduate students of color: Expanding the mentoring relationship

This chapter examines the graduate school experiences of three men of color who overcame signifcant obstacles in completing the dissertation writing phase of their program by initiating a peer mentoring group.