VI. Mentoring Needs in a Diverse Community
The Office of Graduate Studies strongly believes that a graduate student population diverse in its origins, beliefs, lifestyles, experiences, and intellectual perspectives greatly enriches the scholarly, cultural, and social activities of the University. In particular, we are committed to enhancing the presence and mentoring of students from historically underrepresented or marginalized populations with the knowledge that these improvements will make the University a more democratic community and benefit the entire graduate student body.
The purpose of this section is to increase your awareness of the factors that shape how you face the challenges of pursuing an advanced degree. No two students experience advanced study in exactly the same way. Even students with similar backgrounds and personal characteristics can experience very different challenges. Conversely, some graduate students of very different backgrounds share similar concerns, such as presenting or publishing papers and job searching.
Thus, we discuss the factors that influence (but do not determine) the kinds of mentoring you might seek, rather than assume you are a member of any one discrete group. Your gender, gender identification, sexual orientation, race or ethnicity, physical abilities, age, prior work experience, career aspirations, family responsibilities, and socioeconomic background are factors that influence the mentoring you need. To be empowered, you need to reflect on how these factors shape your particular circumstances as a graduate student. Steps you can take to improve your graduate experience, and that of your peers, follow. The suggestions are general enough to apply no matter what your discipline, although we attempt to draw disciplinary distinctions where pertinent.
