graduate education – Pullias Center

Julie Posselt and the Pullias Center for Higher Education Awarded $1.3 million grant from the National Science Foundation

‘Examining Rubrics in Graduate Education,’ a partnership with the University of Minnesota, will examine the utility and feasibility of rubrics in graduate admissions. USC Rossier Associate Professor Julie Posselt (and project Principal Investigator) and a team of Pullias Center and University of Minnesota researchers have received a significant grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) that will examine evaluation rubrics […]

Postdoctoral Hiring & Equity Issues in STEM: Employment Trends, Policy, and Research

Jill Huynh, Kimberlee Shauman Pullias Center for Higher Education (2021) Inequities in postdoctoral hiring reflect and contribute to inequities in the scientific labor force more broadly. Although their positions are usually temporary, postdoctorates comprise a substantial proportion of the STEM research workforce and conduct a large share of the work generating laboratory productivity. These researchers are a highly educated and […]

Doctoral Candidacy and Qualifying Exams: A Guide to Contexts, Costs for Equity, and Possibilities of Transformation

Julie Posselt, Román Liera Pullias Center for Higher Education (2022) In this brief, we offer context about qualifying exams, raise awareness of how they can compromise equity and student wellbeing, and offer recommendations for structural and cultural change. We synthesize published research and findings from the IGEN Research Hub’s studies in this area, including survey data and case studies of […]

Assessing the Landscape For Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Efforts in U.S. STEM Graduate Education: A Systematic Literature Review

Julie Posselt, Kaylan Baxter, Whitney Tang Pullias Center for Higher Education (2021) This report introduces such evidence, toward enabling the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to develop the wisest investments in STEM graduate education. We present findings from a systematic review of 228 recently published research manuscripts and evaluation reports about efforts to advance diversity, equity, and/or inclusion by race, gender, […]

Racialized Gatekeeping Systems: Guidance for Navigation & Transformation

Pullias Center for Higher Education (2023) This document distills takeaways and input of 200+ attendees of webinars held by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) and the NSF INCLUDES Alliance: Inclusive Graduate Education Network (IGEN) in March 2023. In these events, panelists and participants discussed the newest NASEM report Advancing Antiracism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in […]

Promoting Graduate Student Wellbeing: Cultural, Organizational, and Environmental Factors in the Academy

Dr. Julie R. Posselt Pullias Center for Higher Education (2021) The purpose of this essay is to synthesize current knowledge about cultural, organizational, and environmental factors in higher education which are known to support or inhibit the wellbeing of graduate students. Given that students’ intellectual growth as graduate students is situated within a multi-dimensional developmental process, I pay special attention […]

Assessing The Landscape For Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Efforts in U.S. STEM Graduate Education: A Systematic Literature Review

Dr. Julie Posselt, Kaylan Baxter, and Whitney Tang Pullias Center for Higher Education (2021) More resources are being poured every year into efforts to broaden participation in STEM, and foundations and other resource providers need up-to-date evidence about what works in shaping individual and organizational outcomes. This report introduces such evidence, toward enabling the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to develop […]

Pullias research assistant advocates for graduate education on Capitol Hill

April 30, 2019November 19, 2021 pulliasadmin College access, Equity & Diversity graduate admissions graduate education theresa e hernandez

Pullias Center research assistant Theresa E. Hernandez was one of two graduate students from USC to meet with lawmakers in Washington, D.C. to advocate for graduate education last month. Hernandez, along with USC Price PhD candidate Andrew Eisenlohr and USC Vice Provost Sally Pratt, joined about 40 other deans and graduate students to participate in the Council of Graduate Schools’ […]

Julie Posselt’s Cal-Bridge project featured in Diverse Issues in Higher Education

November 30, 2018November 30, 2018 pulliasadmin Equity & Diversity, Pullias Voices graduate admissions graduate education

The Cal-Bridge program, a National Science Foundation-project on which Pullias faculty member Julie Posselt serves as co-principal investigator, was featured in Diverse Issues in Higher Education: M. Katy Rodriguez Wimberly is well into her Ph.D. program in physics at the University of California Irvine, and she gives credit to participation in a bridge program that helps underrepresented minority students earn doctoral degrees […]

New research: Supporting marginalized students, from gang-affiliated youth to first-gen PhD candidates

September 28, 2018October 29, 2018 pulliasadmin College access, Equity & Diversity, Math equity adrian huerta graduate admissions graduate education julie posselt math pathways stem stem reform tatiana melguizo

Recent works by Pullias researchers tackle complex issues in education, from engaging gang-associated youth in schools by valuing the knowledge and skills they already possess to effectively mentoring PhD students from historically excluded and marginalized groups. In addition, a new working paper explores how students from racial minority groups are more likely to be placed in developmental math courses due […]