Disrupt and demystify the unwritten rules of graduate school

Abstract

To the Editor — A graduate school curriculum can be viewed as an iceberg (Fig. 1), the tip of which is focused on tangible skill development, such as data collection, analysis and publishing. However, beneath the water’s surface there lie implicit academic, social and cultural lessons that are currently required to keep an academic career afloat. Informal weekly discussions between early career researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz identified a number of non-technical skills that are critical to a successful career in geoscience, but which are currently buried in the hidden curriculum. The hidden curriculum of academia in North America includes social and cultural norms that typically align with those of the white middle class1. This means that the hidden curriculum can be even less visible, and ultimately inhospitable, hostile and exclusionary, for those with intersecting and marginalized identities with regard to, for example, race, ethnicity, gender and sexuality. These unwritten rules and expectations contribute to the geosciences being one of the least diverse and inclusive disciplines within science, technology, engineering and mathematics2. Importantly, graduate students should not have to conform to hidden academic norms to succeed. We need to both demystify and disrupt the hidden curriculum; to bring visibility to the skills that graduate students need for a successful career in academia while confronting our community’s structural inequities. We believe that everyone has an individual responsibility to become part of the anti-racism movement3 and to change the existing academic culture and structure at every level. Here we highlight examples of gaps within our formal training and suggest some actions to address key elements of the hidden curriculum. Students should be trained in the development of an individualized research compass early in graduate school. Identification of interesting, unanswered questions within a scientific field, and positioning oneself to address those gaps, is a foundational element of a research career. Training in research development will help graduate students stay focused as they hone their specific research directions. Additionally, without a healthy work–life balance, students and academics will not be in a position to address their research questions. Thus, we argue that the graduate curriculum should provide formal opportunities to discuss, and create, community guidelines on work–life balance practices with faculty and peers. This will not only highlight these challenges, but will also help to change cultural expectations of work in departments and labs. While graduate school is intended to be difficult and time-consuming, finding a balance between personal and professional pursuits can lead to better mental, physical and emotional health. On a related and often overlooked note, graduate students are more likely to experience depression and anxiety than the general population, with higher rates for underserved identities (for example, as related to race, ethnicity, gender and sexuality)4,5. Students therefore need training and support for their mental health. Support can take many forms, including, but not limited to, material support through subsidized counselling services and fair wages, as well as community support, through peer groups and department curricula on shared challenges in science. Importantly, training and development don’t end after graduate school. In order to navigate the nonlinear nature of research and academic careers, students must be taught how to establish mentoring relationships and professional networks. Explicit and early training in how to map and examine these professional networks can help identify areas for growth and establish the need to continually revisit them as personal and professional needs change. Many of the curriculum gaps we’ve identified for the geosciences will be common across departments Examples of formal graduate education