PhD alumna Eunsong Park (Social Science Research Analyst at SSA), Daniel Thursz Distinguished Professor of Social Justice Corey Shdaimah, PhD candidate Nikita Aggarwal, and PhD student Amy Garzón-Hampton published an article, “Roadblocks and passageways”: Pandemic lessons for helping graduate students survive and thrive in times of crisis in the Journal of Graduate Education Research. The qualitative study explored how U.S. graduate students experienced and navigated pandemic challenges to their education using Pierre Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus, capital, and field.
Respondents’ abilities to manage changes caused by the pandemic were largely dependent on the capital they or their informal networks had and the field where they were positioned during pre-pandemic and pandemic. Institutions’ characteristics and supports greatly influenced students’ habitus and sense of belonging. Study respondents’ ability to maintain their educational trajectories was tied to both their assessment of their institution as caring and inclusive and their existing resources.
Park, E., Shdaimah, C., Aggarwal, N., & Garzón-Hampton, A. (2024). “Roadblocks and passageways”: Pandemic lessons for helping graduate students survive and thrive in times of crisis. Journal of Graduate Education Research, 5(1). https://scholarworks.harding.edu/jger/vol5/iss1/4