Re-evaluate traditional Ph.D. roles and responsibilities
Finally, the Academy should consider re-evaluating the traditional roles and responsibilities of PhD students. Academia is often perceived as a route to an individualistic career, ultimately providing rewards of achievement and power. However, students from BIPOC backgrounds can have stronger community-oriented cultures and career interests than their white peers (O’Brien et al, 2016; Smith et al. 2014; Purrityet al. 2017). In the current “publish or perish” climate of Academia, we leave little room for scholars to cultivate a sense of community. Creating more space in a PhD for community work, whether through integrative projects (e.g. , sustainability work with benefits to local communities), public outreach (e.g. , EEB outreach programs targeting BIPOC youth), teaching, or participation in student societies, may attract and retain more BIPOC talent (Fuestinget al. 2017; Puritty et al. 2017), while simultaneously being a healthy change to the current expectations of a PhD (Nature 2019). These changes can have downstream impact as well: community leadership from BIPOC PhD scholars themselves can in turn encourage the next generation of BIPOC students to enter EEB, as same-race role models significantly increase BIPOC students’ interest in pursuing graduate studies in EEB (O’Brien et al. 2020).
Increased recognition of community work from funding agencies, especially when reaching underrepresented communities, as well as compensation from institutions and societies for such work, can facilitate and reward BIPOC scholars who choose to give back to their communities. Our Diversity of Nature (DoN) program (Massey et al.2020) is one example of graduate student-led community work. Here, BIPOC graduate students lead EEB field camps and in-school workshops targeting local BIPOC secondary students. This program is funded by various offices within our institution, EEB societies, and a national funding agency. Support, recognition, and funding from these larger organizational bodies has allowed us to create a sustainable program where BIPOC youth are encouraged to pursue EEB through racialized role models (Syed et al. 2011; O’Brien et al. 2020) and positive ecological experiences (Armstrong et al. 2007). At the same time, DoN has allowed us to take part in meaningful, financially compensated EEB community outreach, making for a more holistic and rewarding PhD experience.