A large number of graduate students are first-generation. This session seeks to cultivate a discussion about common questions, concerns, and advice for graduate students and postdocs as they navigate academia. However, this isn’t designed only for students, but it also aims to provide mentors with advice on how to better support students’ success and retention rates. This roundtable is intended to create a space in which seasoned professionals and early career scholars can share tips and ideas for first-generation graduate students, describe mentoring experiences, and foster mentorship relationships.

To that end, roundtable participants will provide suggestions and advice for creating welcoming, supportive environments for first-generation students; different metrics for success in graduate programs; how to negotiate work and home life; and ways to foster healthy relationships between faculty and first-generation students. Participants are encouraged to tailor their proposals and advice to the ever-changing and increasingly challenging landscape of academia, addressing—though not limited to—any of the topics listed above.

Email proposals to amfuller@umd.edu