Abstract
The pandemic compels higher education programs to consider ways to offer virtual support to students of color. This qualitative study, using collaborative autoethnography, investigates how three Ph.D. candidates from diverse cultural and educational backgrounds experienced isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic and found support and motivation within a virtual workspace. Interweaving a framework minimizing doctoral attrition with communities of practice, the researcher-participants analyze pre- and post-surveys, reflections, and focus group interviews. Key findings point towards (1) social capital inequities and financial disadvantages experienced by international students, (2) tensions and negotiations handled online with social organizations and advisors, and (3) the results of increased emotional support with active participation in a messaging platform. Implications for leaders and instructors in higher education include the implementation of small group virtual spaces as an institutional practice to promote the wellness and productivity of graduate students.
TopIntroduction
Research studies (e.g., Austin, 2002; Gardner, 2008; Spitzig, 2020) have shown that graduate studies and the dissertation phase of one’s career are inherently isolating. The journey towards becoming a distinguished scholar can be encumbered by dissatisfaction with the advisor or committee members (Adrian-Taylor et al., 2007; Fagen & Suedkamp Wells, 2004), departmental issues (Ferrer de Valero, 2001; Golde, 2005), numerous personal challenges, including family and personal issues (Brailsford, 2010; Lovitts, 2001; Maher et al., 2004), depression, anxiety, and stress (Hyun et al., 2006; Jones-White et al., 2020; Sverdlik et al., 2020), all of which may affect program completion time (Barry et al., 2018) or even doctoral attrition (Powers, 2004). Findings from a qualitative study on students of color enrolled in a predominantly white Research I institution Ph.D. program showed that candidates shared feelings of loneliness, lack of recognition or appreciation as a diverse member of the student body, and isolation (Lewis et al., 2004). The emotional stress of social isolation, particularly for students of color and international students, is a key factor in one’s academic performance in higher education (Wu et al., 2015).
Connectedness among graduate students, particularly those dissertating, is the bond formed and maintained to provide a sense of community, encouragement, and motivation despite racial, cultural, economic, and program disparities. Rovai (2002) suggests that connectedness offers a source of safety and generates feelings of “cohesion, spirit, trust, and interdependence” (p. 206). The repercussions of social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic have only magnified the loss of connectedness doctoral students have with peers and faculty. Particularly for international doctoral students who have no family members nearby, departmental and institutional support would be essential to their academic success and mental health.
This book chapter details the review of literature on doctoral student attrition, the theoretical framework of communities of practice, and the methodology of collaborative autoethnography (Chang et al., 2013) to investigate the challenges that three Ph.D. candidates of color experienced at a higher education institution. Sections on data sources, the employment of a three-step inductive analysis approach, researcher positionality, descriptions of the six themes that emerged from the analysis, discussion, limitations, implication, and future thoughts follow. The conclusion centers on how the authors found support and motivation within a virtual workspace during the pandemic and addresses the research questions guiding this study:
- 1)
What challenges did the three dissertating students of color experience during the COVID-19 pandemic?
- 2)
In what ways did the three dissertating students use the shared, virtual workspace to provide support and motivation during the COVID-19 pandemic?
Key Terms in this Chapter
Doctoral Student Connectedness Scale: An instrument developed and validated by Terrell et al. (2009) used to identify graduate students at risk of attrition.
Graduate Student Wellness: A student’s state of being physically, mentally, socially, and spiritually balanced.
Emotional Support: An act of care and concern for others. Specifically for this chapter, the process of extending comfort, empathy, sympathy, reassurance, confidence, or presence to a student.
Connectedness: The bond formed and maintained to provide a sense of community, encouragement, and motivation despite racial, cultural, economic, and program disparities.
Online: Used synonymously in this chapter as virtual, the active state of working with a computer connected to an internet service as a means to access information, to network, or to collaborate with others without meeting in person.
Doctoral Attrition: The reduction in the number of students initially enrolled in a doctoral program to the number of students who actually complete the program.
Communities of Practice: A process described by Lave and Wenger (1991) where individuals become legitimate participants of a community through regular participation in community activities.