A Postdoctoral Program Model: Reimagining Merit, Mentorship, and Cultural Wealth

• In Event: Transforming Postdoctoral and Early Career Pathways

Abstract

This paper shares reflections from four faculty members who co-developed an equity-centered postdoctoral fellowship at a public research university in the Southwest U.S. Using collaborative autoethnography and grounded in Community Cultural Wealth (Yosso, 2005), the authors examine how dominant norms around merit, excellence, and fit were challenged through intentional program design. The fellowship prioritized community-engaged research, cultural wealth, and human-centered mentorship. Key findings highlight trust-building, aspirational and resistant capital, and reimagined definitions of merit. This work contributes to scholarship on inclusive postdoctoral pathways and offers a model for transforming academic spaces through equity and collaboration, particularly amid growing resistance to diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in higher education.

Authors

• Mariam Manuel, University of Houston

• April Peters-Hawkins

• David Horton, Jr., University of Houston

• Jerrod Henderson, University of Houston