WORKSHOPS
The Equity in Graduate Education Resource Center offers professional and organizational development opportunities that foster reflection, healthy discussion, and practical strategies for equitably recruiting, admitting, and serving students.
Our team of diverse facilitators from across the country translates the social science of diversity, equity, and inclusion into accessible language, interactive activities, and research-informed tools. A mix of individual and organizational learning will allow you to begin immediately implementing changes to policies and practices that have undermined access and success in academia for racially minoritized students.
The Equity in Graduate Education workshops were developed as part of a partnership between the Inclusive Graduate Education Network (IGEN), the California Consortium for Inclusive Doctoral Education (C-CIDE), and the Equity in Graduate Education Consortium. To learn more about these funded projects click here.
Available Workshops
FUNDAMENTALS OF EQUITY IN GRADUATE ADMISSIONS
OVERVIEW & GOALS
This session presents data and research about the role of typical admissions practices in maintaining racial/ethnic inequalities in graduate education, as well as strategies for more equitable processes and outcomes. Suitable for a wide variety of audiences, practical strategies for rethinking typical admissions criteria and processes are introduced, with a focus on equity-based holistic review and embedding attention to equity throughout the admissions process. All aspects of this session are rooted in current research. Participants will learn how common admissions mindsets & practices tend to inhibit access for underrepresented groups, and they will be introduced to tools like rubrics that may improve diversity & equity as part of holistic review processes.
DETAILS
The workshop is typically 2 hours in length; Format is mostly lecture-based, with some discussion; Content suitable for a variety of audiences (faculty, administrators, graduate students/postdocs)
STRATEGIES FOR EQUITY-BASED HOLISTIC REVIEW
OVERVIEW & GOALS
Building upon prerequisite knowledge from the Fundamentals workshop this session on Strategies for Equity-based Holistic Review is a hands-on workshop for graduate admissions committee members and department leaders. Committees will articulate and assess their current admissions practices, learn how to develop an evaluation rubric that they can put to use, and engage in discussions that will help them anticipate common challenges that may arise in shifting admissions practices.
DETAILS
The workshop is typically 2 hours in length; Mostly discussion-based, with some lecture; Best suited for graduate programs that have already been engaged in discussions or other efforts to address equity and diversity issues.
“Fundamentals of Equity in Graduate Admissions” is a prerequisite for this workshop.
ALIGNING RECRUITMENT AND ADMISSIONS
OVERVIEW & GOALS
Recognizing that many faculty do not see graduate student recruitment as their responsibility and may even misunderstand the factors that are important to prospective graduate students from marginalized backgrounds, the curriculum for this workshop includes a combination of presentation and activities designed to build attendees’ 1) knowledge about the current state of research on recruitment and 2) appreciation for how a graduate program’s website can operate as a recruitment tool, and 3) planning for recruitment activities that complement more equitable admissions practices.
DETAILS
This 120 minute online workshop is designed to either stand alone or to follow the two-part Equity in Graduate Admissions workshop series. It is currently offered online.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will have the knowledge and skills to:
- Identify recruitment practices that serve as common barriers to equity in graduate admissions, and elements of equity-minded recruitment practice.
- Understand the role of faculty in broadening applicant pools.
- Begin to construct a department/division recruitment plan that is aligned with your admissions rubric.
- Identify ways that individual faculty can actively participate in the recruitment of students from racially minoritized groups in STEM.
- Take-home: Develop campus visit programs that yield the students you would like to see enroll in your program.
WRITING AND REVIEWING LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION FOR EQUITY
OVERVIEW & GOALS
Letters of recommendation are used in the admissions and faculty search processes to glean information and qualities which may go unnoticed in the review of an applicant’s file. However, they are also one of the most common places that bias is written into applicant records– sometimes in subtle ways. Toward the goal of equity-minded evaluation, this workshop 1) situates letters of recommendation as key components in holistic evaluations of faculty job applicants 2) Reviews key research studies on bias in letters of recommendation 3) Enables participants to recognize gender and racial biases in existing letters 4) Provides practice in reviewing letters from an equity-minded perspective. Activities are specifically designed to help attendees develop knowledge, skills, and language to manage common equity dilemmas inherent in how we review, solicit, and write letters of recommendation.
DETAILS
This 90-minute online workshop is designed to either stand alone or to follow the two-part Equity in Graduate Admissions workshop series. It is currently offered online.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will have the knowledge and skills to:
- Understand the double-edge role that letters can play in advancing careers and reinforcing stereotypes.
- Prioritize what information to write about in sponsoring students from minoritized backgrounds and what content to avoid.
- Recognize gendered and racialized language in letters of recommendation.
- Develop equity-minded habits for writing and reviewing letters.
- Solicit letters of recommendation for your organization in ways that can reduce the risk of receiving biased letters.
SYSTEMIC CHANGE IN GRADUATE EDUCATION: DESIGNING FOR EQUITY
OVERVIEW & GOALS
Reform sometimes gets a bad reputation — and for good reason. Decades of research finds that reform-minded change in organizations rarely leads to outcomes that can be sustained over time. And, when the desired outcome is related to equity, diversity, justice, or inclusion goals, reform efforts can be counterproductive if members do not also engage with underlying cultural tensions. This two-hour workshop is for leaders who are ready to go deeper with change— who want to collaboratively explore possibilities for redesigning the practices and systems by which we select and serve graduate students. Facilitators will lead us in 1) reflection about positive case studies of Ph.D. programs that have realized systemic change, 2) discussion about the applications to our own programs, and 3) planning to address a concrete equity challenge from a systemic perspective.
DETAILS
This two-hour workshop can either stand alone or complement workshops on admissions, recruitment, and mentoring.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will have the knowledge and skills to:
- Understand the roles of culture & system change in equity in graduate education.
- Appreciate systemic relationships among domains of faculty practice.
- Reflect on cases of Ph.D. programs that have realized deep change.
- Apply lessons toward a coordinated approach to change in your own program or department.
INTRODUCTION TO EQUITY-MINDED MENTORING
OVERVIEW & GOALS
Research has shown that faculty interactions with students in the classroom, laboratory, and advising meetings influence students’ professional socialization, academic performance, and persistence in higher education. In this workshop, faculty will reflect on their current advising and mentoring practice and learn how to develop equity-minded mentoring relationships. Equity-minded mentors 1) take personal and institutional responsibility for the success of their graduate students, 2) are attentive to the social and historical context of graduate education and how exclusionary practices shape the experiences of doctoral students who are from minoritized groups, and 3) affirm the social identities of emerging scholars in ways that facilitate their academic, professional, and social development. Activities in this workshop will develop competencies in these areas and will help faculty develop equity-minded mentoring agreements as a tool that establishes shared expectations between mentors and mentees.
DETAILS
This 120 minute online workshop is designed to either stand alone or as the first-workshop in our three-part Mentoring and Wellbeing series. Content is suitable for a variety of audiences (faculty, administrators, graduate students/postdocs). This workshop is currently offered online.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will have the knowledge and skills to:
- Develop awareness about how mentoring behaviors impact mentees’ academic experience, sense of belonging, and scholarly identity development.
- Be able to distinguish the difference among mentoring, advising, supervision, and sponsorship, while also understanding the role of each in promoting the success of students from minoritized groups.
- Appreciate how differences in preparation, goals, and social identities compel the need for individualized and adaptive mentoring relationships.
- Learn to have conversations with mentees across social differences.
- Take-home: Develop mentoring compacts that are equity-advancing and culturally responsive to the needs of students who are from minoritized groups.
FOSTERING WELLBEING IN RACIALIZED MENTORING ENVIRONMENTS
OVERVIEW & GOALS
Research has shown that graduate students struggle with mental health issues such as anxiety and depression at higher rates than the general population. Graduate students of color are often exposed to additional risks due to direct experiences with racism in the research environment, effects of vicarious racism, and pressures to assimilate to historically white disciplines. While some stress and uncertainty is unavoidable in graduate training, research mentors have a direct impact on the wellbeing of members of their research group. Developing the skills to recognize and have open conversations about mental health, wellbeing, and racism is key to this process, as is the ability to proactively affirm and engage students’ cultures in research contexts.
DETAILS
This 120-minute online workshop is designed to either stand alone or as the first-workshop in the three-part Mentoring and Wellbeing series. Content suitable for a variety of audiences (faculty, administrators, graduate students/postdocs). This workshop is currently offered online.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will have the knowledge and skills to:
- Learn existing definitions of mental health and reflect on signs of wellbeing.
- Develop awareness about how mentoring behaviors impact student wellbeing and how racism poses risks to wellbeing.
- Learn to have conversations with mentees on mental health and wellbeing.
- Appreciate the meaning and importance of cultural humility, and mentoring practices that support cultural integrity in academia.
CREATING CULTURES OF MENTORING & WELLBEING
OVERVIEW & GOALS
An often overlooked strategy for enhancing individual wellbeing is attending to the design of organizational environments where work and learning occur (e.g., labs, graduate programs, universities). Aligning the aims, leadership styles, resources, communications practices, and policies of learning environments to support a culture of mentoring and wellbeing may be necessary for changing culture. With a focus on labs and graduate programs, this workshop will empower attendees to assess their own organizational culture. Participants will learn how to proactively build equity-minded cultures of mentoring and wellbeing through tools such as lab manuals and graduate program handbooks that establish expectations about work-life balance, forms of support and mentoring available, and professional conduct as it concerns respect for members’ social identities.
DETAILS
This 120-minute online workshop is designed to either stand alone or as the third-workshop in our three-part Mentoring and Wellbeing series. Content suitable for a variety of audiences (faculty, administrators, graduate students/postdocs). This workshop is currently offered online.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will have the knowledge and skills to:
- Recognize dimensions of organizational culture that may affect graduate student wellbeing, especially for diverse groups of mentees. Enable leaders to conduct cultural self-assessment, considering different stakeholders’ perspectives.
- Consider the role of expectation-setting and policy in creating cultures of mentoring, and where policy may need development or evolution.
- Review and begin developing content for a lab manual or graduate program handbook on topics that are important for equity and wellbeing.
- Explore possibilities by which departments explicitly incorporate the value of high-quality mentoring into their organizational incentive structures.
CurRent Facilitators
