Undergraduate Research Experience, Graduate School Choice, and Expected and Unanticipated Transitions to and through Graduate School

Addressing graduate education inequity requires focusing on both admission and persistence in graduate programs. Through a 5-year oral history project, we consider how an undergraduate research experience (URE) program with a heavy emphasis on critical race theory (CRT) supports students through multiple transitions to enter and progress through graduate programs. The URE helped them to expect certain transitions, such as the need to make intentional choices about graduate program fit, the importance of identifying good mentors, and the need to become self-directed, independent researchers. The URE program’s emphasis on CRT also gave them a framework for making sense of unanticipated transitions in graduate school: instead of internalizing problematic experiences, they recognized them as part of inequities endemic to higher education and society. We discuss implications for URE programs and approaches to supporting students as they make geographic and institutional transitions to pursue graduate education.