Creating a More Inclusive Graduate School Experience - The Advocacy and Efforts of UC San Diego Chem

As a department, we are working steadfastly to create a community of care, engagement and belonging that ensures all students, postdoctoral fellows, staff, and faculty are accepted, valued and supported in their work. Herein we shine light on some of the recent advocacy and efforts of our graduate students to advance their education and conversations around equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI). “Grad 2 Grad” is a workshop for first-year chemistry M.S. and Ph.D. candidates that was designed and delivered virtually in January 2021 by senior graduate students and EDI & Climate Council representatives Nicole Peiris (PI: Daniel Donoghue) and Michael Alves (PI: Vicki Grassian). The workshop was an opportunity to explore questions and concerns related to the graduate student experience, to build social and professional connections, and to learn about the student affinity groups in the department. Broadly, the goals, needs, and interests of graduate students in Chemistry and Biochemistry are represented by the members of the Chemistry Graduate Student Council (CGSC) and the campus-wide Graduate & Professional Student Association (GPSA). A popular scholarly experience is the Student Research Seminar (SRS) series, which gives graduate student nominees the opportunity to showcase their research-in-progress to a broad departmental community. SRS is co-sponsored by CGSC and SWIGS, the Society for Women in Graduate Studies (SWIGS) in Chemistry and Biochemistry. Founded a decade ago, SWIGS was recognized with the UC San Diego Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action & Diversity Award in 2017 for its efforts to promote gender equality in the sciences. The group continues to thrive, hosting informal coffee meetups, professional development seminars, and community engagement activities. At its most recent monthly meeting (February 2021), guest speaker Dr. Jeannette McConnell, the NSF-CAICE Education, Outreach and Diversity Director, facilitated a stimulating “Conversation About Recognizing and Dismantling White Supremacist Culture In Academia”. The newest student affinity group, the CHEM International Friendship Group (CIFG), was launched last month by Connie Torres-Paris (PI: Betsy Komives), Lisa Liang (PI: Kevin Corbett), and Lincoln Mehndiratta (1st year, rotating). The group brings awareness to the social, cultural, linguistic, and academic challenges that many international students encounter as they transition to a new country and university and provides a venue for American graduate students to lend their support. In doing so, it also fosters cross-cultural understanding and authentic interactions, while recognizing the rich and varied lived experiences and perspectives of all international and domestic students. The message shared on CIFG’s Slack channel, which is the primary means by which members connect and participate in social (COVID friendly) activities at this time is: “Learning from each other - that’s how we grow and thrive!” Indeed, the EDI awareness and skills our graduate students are developing today in research, teaching, and service will serve them well as future leaders in an increasingly diverse and global society.