Professional Development

The Office of Graduate Educational Equity in concert with the Graduate School and the academic colleges sponsor professional development opportunities for underrepresented graduate students. These workshops, seminars and conferences are intended to address issues that may not be addressed in the academic units.

Some of the topics include but are not limited to: negotiating relationships with faculty advisors and mentors who may have different sets of cultural experiences and concerns; working with graduate peers who may have had little experience with working with people from diverse backgrounds; helping find one’s place in departments that has few or no other underrepresented students; or finding value in graduate work when some of the values expressed in classes and conversations with faculty and peers do not match with those you espouse.

In addition to the on-campus professional development, students are strongly encouraged to take every opportunity to get off campus to attend national and regional conferences in their academic fields. The exposure to professional conferences is critical in helping students identify with and become fully emerged in their academic disciplines. The Office of Graduate Educational Equity has a small fund that is used to help underrepresented students travel to professional conferences when they are presenting papers or posters. Underrepresented students should contact the office at L-OGEEP@lists.psu.edu to complete a travel request form.

The Graduate School offers a variety of workshops and seminars for all graduate students. These programs occur throughout the year. Underrepresented students are strongly encouraged to attend. To learn more about the workshops, visit http://www.gradsch.psu.edu/current/.