Organization

The Research Hub is excited to share our latest resource, which is a guide to help bridge students identify their cultural wealth. Even with the preparation and community that Bridge Programs provide, students may still face challenges in their graduate programs. While racially minoritized students are often able to overcome these challenges by drawing on various forms of cultural capital they possess, the forms of cultural capital they utilize are often overlooked and unacknowledged in the academy.

The level of support that PhD programs provide students receive when searching for a research group varies widely across disciplines. While some students come in with a clear sense of their research interests and potential advisors, others may struggle to find the right fit without adequate guidance. Both groups may face challenges, whether feeling overwhelmed by the process or discovering incompatibilities with their chosen research group.

This is a resource for societies to share with students interested in exploring careers in national laboratories. 

Authored by Mark White & Melissa McDaniels

Abstract: There is growing awareness that established structures of higher education are often predicated on problematic assumptions about merit, excellence, and rigor. Doctoral qualifying exams, for example, are required to advance to candidacy in many Ph.D. programs despite decades of documented concerns about the implications of standard modes for student equity and well-being. As more Ph.D. programs move to reform these exams and candidacy requirements, it is important to understand how Ph.D. programs, as academic organizations, construct the significance of the qualifying exam.

The learning curve that accompanies educational transitions can involve culture shock as students adjust to new environments, demands, networks, and responsibilities. Educational institutions have unwritten, implicit rules and expectations within their culture—otherwise known as the “hidden curriculum.” Navigating the hidden curriculum is part of what can make the transitions to college and graduate school challenging. 

This rubric checklist came about as a result of listening to the needs of both IGEN and EGE workshop attendees, as rubrics are one of the tools that our Equity in Admissions workshop series attendees most frequently adopt following their workshop participation. The use of rubrics can help to create more equitable admissions processes, but it can be difficult to know how to design and implement them to be effective.

Departmental support structures for physics graduate students: Development and
psychometric evaluation of a self-report instrument
By Diana Sachmpazidi and Charles Henderson
Date & Time of Journal Club: Monday, June 27th 2022 at 12pmPT/3pmET

Article PDF
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Summary
The American Physical Society’s Bridge Program (APS-BP) has significantly higher persistence rates than

The intersectional privilege of white able-bodied heterosexual men in STEM.
By Erin A. Cech
Date & Time of Journal Club: Tuesday, October 18th, 2022 at 10amPT/1pmET

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Summary

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022.

Educational Pathways for Black Students in Science, Engineering, and Medicine: Exploring Barriers and Possible Interventions: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.