Journal of Science Policy & Governance
​Volume 20, Issue 02 | May 16, 2022

Op-Ed: Reforming Graduate Student Policies and Resources Starts with Promoting the Ones you Already Have​

Michael W. Rudokas, Megan E. Damico, Christina Kling, Alessandra Zimmermann
National Science Policy Network, San Francisco, CA
​
Corresponding author: [email protected]
Keywords: graduate student; institutional policy; higher education; student policies and resources; STEM education​
https://doi.org/10.38126/JSPG200208 ​

Executive Summary

The overall mental and physical well-being of STEM graduate students has been declining in recent years, and the COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated the situation. The institutional policies and resources meant to protect and support graduate students need to be updated to reflect the changing times and match the current needs of the students they are intended to serve. Through an exploratory study, we surveyed graduate students from U.S. higher education institutions on their perceptions of available resources and policies with the goal of identifying areas for improvement. The main findings from this study highlighted the critical need to increase the awareness and accessibility of policies and resources already provided to graduate students to promote perceived availability and, therefore, graduate student policy and resource use. We put forward two key recommendations to accomplish this task: first, it is crucial to begin centralizing, codifying, and annotating graduate student policies and resources to increase their accessibility amongst student populations. Second, we suggest active and passive marketing approaches to increase awareness of policies and resources throughout institutions. Accessibility and awareness of graduate student resources and policies need to be addressed to promote the success and safety of graduate students and, in doing so, ameliorate graduate student retention and cultivate diverse career futures in STEM.

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Background header image courtesy of Business Officer Magazine
Michael Rudokas is a member of the National Science Policy Network. He recently completed his Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology from the University of Nevada, Reno. He currently is a postdoctoral researcher at Yale University Cardiovascular Research Center investigating the metabolic regulation of ventricular arrhythmias. He is broadly interested in health and education policy with a particular focus in biomedical research and STEM education.

Megan Damico is the Southern Hub Chair and member of the National Science Policy Network. She is a 4th year Ph.D. candidate in Environmental Health Sciences from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro where she studies microbial ecology and evolution of host-associated gut microbiomes. She is the co-founder and vice president of the student group, Spartans for Science and Policy and is passionate about engaging students advocacy and policy spaces. Her policy interests stem from her work as a beekeeper and focus on issues related to agriculture, science policy, STEM education and workforce development, and research funding equity.

Christina Kling has a Bachelor Degree from the University of New Haven (UNH) in Biotechnology and Biology. She has a Ph.D. from Cornell University in Biomedical Sciences. She is a member of the National Science Policy Network (NSPN) where she is serving on the Graduate Education Committee and a liaison between NSPN and the COST Action for Researcher Mental Health and is a co-author of the Researcher Mental Health and Well-being Manifesto.

​Alessandra Zimmerman is a member of the National Science Policy Network, through which this work was performed. She has a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Maryland, has previously worked on the Peer and Expert Review Laboratory, a project looking at the impacts of peer review comments on early career applicants through her position as Executive Director of Proposal Analytics. She now works as a R&D budget policy analyst and writer at the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Her views do not represent any organizations she is a part of.

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