What is a graduate-going culture? Drawing from the college-going culture research, I define a graduate-going culture as one where faculty, staff, and administrators are dedicated to promoting students’ aspirations for graduate school, including planning and preparation. I argue that HSIs should prioritize building a graduate-going culture that provides students with the awareness, knowledge, and skills needed for pursuing and successfully entering graduate programs, including master’s, doctoral, and professional programs. This is essential to HSIs where a large percentage of students are first-generation to college and therefore first-generation to graduate school. The development of a graduate-going culture can be liberatory for students of color and first generation students who may not see themselves as graduate students. Moreover, HSIs are relying on the development of stronger pathways for people of color to enter faculty and administrator positions that require graduate degrees. For this conversation I am joined by Dra. Yvette Martínez-Vu, a grad school and productivity certified coach, and Dra. Miroslava Chávez-García, a professor of history and faculty director of the McNair Scholars Program, who wrote the book, Is Grad School For Me?: Demystifying the Application Process for First-Gen BIPOC Students. We discuss the book, which is an accessible, easy-to-read guidebook for first-generation, low-income, students of color interested in pursuing graduate school, and explore the ways that HSIs can use the book and other resources to build a graduate-going culture.
Yvette Martínez-Vu (she/her)
Certified coach, consultant, author, and speaker
Founder of Grad School Femtoring, LLC
Website: www.gradschoolfemtoring.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gradschoolfemtoring/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yvettemartinezvu/
Miroslava Chavez-Garcia (she/her)
Professor of History, Faculty Director of the McNair Scholars Program
UC Santa Barbara
Website: https://history.ucsb.edu/faculty/mchavezgarcia/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/miroslava-chavez-garcia-779919222/
Attachments / Show Notes:
- https://gradschoolfemtoring.com/podcast/
- https://gradschoolfemtoring.com/6-strategies-for-surviving-a-toxic-graduate-school-advisor/
- https://www.edexcelencia.org/research/publications/hispanic-serving-institutions-with-graduate-programs-ghsis
- https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/10/03/key-facts-about-us-latinos-with-graduate-degrees/
- https://www.hispanicoutlook.com/articles/closing-the-gap-pew-study-calls-for-more-latino-graduate-students
- Garcia, G. A. & Guzman-Alvarez, A. (2021). Descriptive analysis of graduate enrollment trends at Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs): 2005-2015. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 20(2), 196-212. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192719835681
APA Citation:
Garcia, G.A. (Host). (2025, February 9). Building a Graduate-Going Culture at HSIs (No.602) [Audio podcast episode]. In ¿Qué pasa, HSIs?. https://www.ginaanngarcia.com/podcast/episode/9be76898/building-a-graduate-going-culture-at-hsis
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Ruthie's Table 4
For more than 30 years The River Cafe in London, has been the home-from-home of artists, architects, designers, actors, collectors, writers, activists, and politicians. Michael Caine, Glenn Close, JJ Abrams, Steve McQueen, Victoria and David Beckham, and Lily Allen, are just some of the people who love to call The River Cafe home. On River Cafe Table 4, Rogers sits down with her customers—who have become friends—to talk about food memories. Table 4 explores how food impacts every aspect of our lives. “Foods is politics, food is cultural, food is how you express love, food is about your heritage, it defines who you and who you want to be,” says Rogers. Each week, Rogers invites her guest to reminisce about family suppers and first dates, what they cook, how they eat when performing, the restaurants they choose, and what food they seek when they need comfort. And to punctuate each episode of Table 4, guests such as Ralph Fiennes, Emily Blunt, and Alfonso Cuarón, read their favourite recipe from one of the best-selling River Cafe cookbooks. Table 4 itself, is situated near The River Cafe’s open kitchen, close to the bright pink wood-fired oven and next to the glossy yellow pass, where Ruthie oversees the restaurant. You are invited to take a seat at this intimate table and join the conversation. For more information, recipes, and ingredients, go to https://shoptherivercafe.co.uk/ Web: https://rivercafe.co.uk/ Instagram: www.instagram.com/therivercafelondon/ Facebook: https://en-gb.facebook.com/therivercafelondon/ For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iheartradio app, apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com