GRADUATE PROGRAMS COMMITTEE PROGRESS
Overview
After a wide-ranging discussion during focus groups at the MLA convention and a 2026 convening, the Graduate Programs committee arrived at four detailed research questions. These questions will be used to guide the direction of Phase II plans and begin developing case studies and recommendations.
Research Questions
- What conditions reduce inequities in mentorship and advising (including potential harm/benefit to graduate students as well as burden to faculty) and what strategies have been most effective in gaining faculty buy-in for implementing those changes?
- How can we make structural curricular changes that meaningfully contribute to strengthening research impact, improving time to degree, and bolstering student understanding of skill development?
- How can we re-emphasize the teaching of pedagogy in graduate education?
- How can we foster conditions that support non-competitive peer communities?
Next Steps
All three committees are preparing to shift from reflection to action. As the committees begin moving toward developing recommendations, they plan to still engage in continued inquiry; committee members agree it would be helpful to have a few clear models that they can look to as exemplars. The objective is to work on surfacing and highlighting these examples in parallel with the development of recommendations.
After a wide-ranging discussion during focus groups at the MLA convention and a 2026 convening, the Graduate Programs committee arrived at four detailed research questions. These questions will be used to guide the direction of Phase II plans and begin developing case studies and recommendations.
- What conditions reduce inequities in mentorship and advising (including potential harm/benefit to graduate students as well as burden to faculty) and what strategies have been most effective in gaining faculty buy-in for implementing those changes?
- How can we make structural curricular changes that meaningfully contribute to strengthening research impact, improving time to degree, and bolstering student understanding of skill development?
- How can we re-emphasize the teaching of pedagogy in graduate education?
- How can we foster conditions that support non-competitive peer communities?
All three committees are preparing to shift from reflection to action. As the committees begin moving toward developing recommendations, they plan to still engage in continued inquiry; committee members agree it would be helpful to have a few clear models that they can look to as exemplars. The objective is to work on surfacing and highlighting these examples in parallel with the development of recommendations.
Read recently published essay “No Map, Just Mapping: A Reflection on Graduate Education at MLA” written by Tianyi Kou-Herrema on our Medium site, “Doctoral Futures: Perspectives.”
