Adjusting to Graduate School: Black Male Students Experience Racial Isolation,Negotiate Intra-Group Connections,and Balance Belonging

Abstract

Successful socialization to graduate school requires sociocultural adjustments (within one's personal life, negotiating the university, and navigating the surrounding community). Through exploratory, semi-structured, one-on-one interviews and thematic analysis, this study of 50 Black men in engineering graduate programs explores the sociocultural adjustments some students make to adjust to graduate education. Coding participants’ responses yielded three primary sociocultural adjustments: 1) navigating racial isolation; 2) negotiating intra-racial connections; and 3) balancing belonging and emotional guarding. The findings, focused on students’ wellness, offer insights into students’ broader experiences and can assist stakeholders in better supporting students’ whole selves and their persistence.

Keywords

graduate education black male students transition wellness belonging

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