“We Just Need to Care": Urban Graduate Students’ Experiences With Economic Hardship and Academic Culture

• In Event: Saturday Roundtable 7:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Creating Equitable Systems and Spaces in Higher Education to Support Low-Income Students (Table 28)

Abstract

This paper explores the unique experiences of graduate students living and studying at universities in major metropolitan areas in the United States. The authors conduct a duoethnography to collect critical dialogical data and employ thematic coding to analyze the data. Findings from the study reveal that while graduate students find the urban environment beneficial for their academic and personal enrichment, the financial strain of living in cities places a burden upon these students that negatively impacts their ability to fully engage in their learning, teaching, and research endeavors. We argue that urban campuses must enact structural and cultural changes to better support their graduate students. These changes include greater faculty engagement with graduate students’ livelihoods and additional financial safeguards.

Authors

• Kathleen M. Rzucidlo, Howard University

• Eric Matthew Davidson, University of California - Riverside