Stacy A. Jacob

Research Writing Teams as a Form of Mentoring for Graduate Students

Often graduate students believe that taking classes on how to conduct research is the best way to prepare to write their theses or dissertations. However, engaging in opportunities to conduct research with faculty members can also be an excellent way to prepare for both capstone experiences like theses and dissertations and for future faculty positions.

Walking Into Fire

Our discipline, higher education, draws upon other disciplines to build theory and inform practice. Academic areas that inform the study of higher education include psychology, sociology, anthropology, economics, gender studies, and ethnic studies, to name a few. Quite often in our classrooms, especially at the master’s level, we teach subjects that involve learning about, and discussing, topics such as the social construction of gender, sexual orientation and identity development, religion, the impact of race and ethnicity on the college experience, oppression of minority groups, and socio-economic disparities among the classes.