RAPID: Graduate Student Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic
PERIOD:
TO
This project is a two-phase explanatory mixed method study of graduate students’ experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, their perceptions of institutional support, and related educational and career decision-making.
The research team will solicit institutional participation and disseminate questionnaires to graduate student populations. Team members will then conduct virtual focus groups to explore in-depth students’ experiences and reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic, and how these experiences relate to their identities, persistence, and career aspirations. The researchers will then integrate both quantitative and qualitative data to further interpret, explain, and provide new insights to understanding graduate student experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Analyses will pay particular attention to student experiences related to race, class, gender, and other socio-demographic factors. Results of the research will be disseminated through peer reviewed scholarship, a white paper, and workshops providing graduate college leadership with research-based guidelines on how to support the broadest range of their graduate students during a time of crisis. Dr. Perez is engaged in qualitative and mixed methods research associated with this project.
