S01E16 -- Memoirs of a Person of Color in Graduate School – A personal reflection of minority experiences in privileged higher education.

Summary: This week’s episode of the Unlikely Academics discusses the challenges people of color face in institutions of higher education, particularly those with wealthy “legacy” enrollment. Dr. Jenny Holcombe and Dr. Christopher F. Silver (sans Tommy Coleman who is at a conference in Rome, Italy) interview Dr. Felysha Jenkins a Community Psychologist and Diversity and Inclusion advocate related to her experiences in graduate school. Dr. Jenkins first explains her identity as an unlikely academic then shifts to the challenges she faced in higher education including topics of socio-economic status, privilege, pursuing higher education degrees at traditionally wealth based institutions, and navigating the politics of higher education as a minority. Dr. Jenkins shared her research on persons of color in STEM fields as well as navigating the challenges of being different from the white male institutionalization of graduate school. She also shared how community psychology has informed her worldview and helped her find connections between her phenomenological experiences with the pragmatism of graduate education. The podcast concludes by addressing ways to be “in the know” if minority individuals express interest in pursuing graduate school as well as ways high-status individuals can be mindful of their minority students through active listening and taking concerns raised by students seriously. For more information on what Community Psychology is and how it is applied, please go to: https://www.scra27.org/what-we-do/what-community-psychology/