Research and Mentoring

Research on the first-generation experience is growing. See scholarly articles compiled by librarian, Greg Careaga.  However, limited research has been completed on the first-generation graduate student experience. Recent research conducted by PhD candidate, Paulette Garcia Peraza attempts to close that gap and increase our understanding of first-generation graduate students, spanning disciplines, at UC Santa Cruz (forthcoming).

Mentoring

The resources below provide opportunities to support undergraduate and graduate students and hone your mentorship skills. Many of these programs also provide part-time employment or stipends to their graduate student mentors.

• MINT Program
  Is a mentoring program sponsored by the UC Santa Cruz Women’s Center, focused on supporting underrepresented (first-generation, low-income, and/or people of color) undergraduate womxn intent on pursuing a  graduate degree. The program pairs a graduate student with an undergraduate student and offers a variety of mentoring resources and workshops.

• Science Internship Program
  Is a summer-long (10 week) research internship program for high school students in STEM fields. UC Santa Cruz faculty, graduate students, and post-doctoral researchers provide one-on-one mentoring of these high-school interns. The high school students participate in ongoing research projects currently underway at UC Santa Cruz.
• Summer Graduate Pedagogy Mentors
  Mentors provide support, including giving feedback on course materials and teaching observations, to fellow graduate students that are graduate students instructors over the summer. Mentors are required to have completed one of CITL’s professional development programs.
• Pathways to research (P2R)
  Is a mentoring program sponsored by UC Santa Cruz Educational Opportunity Programs which focuses on supporting undergraduate student with the research process and professional development. The program matches graduate students with undergraduate students across a variety of fields.
• Center for Innovations in Teaching and Learning (CITL)
  This page from CITL provides information and resources related to mentoring in graduate programs.