Belonging in Graduate School: Many Paths, One Goal

Starting graduate school often brings a rush of excitement and a wave of uncertainty. You are navigating new systems, learning unfamiliar expectations, meeting people from around the world, and trying to find your footing in a complex academic landscape. During all this transition, one invisible but powerful force shapes the way students experience graduate education: the sense of belonging.

But what does it really mean to belong in graduate school?

The answer is neither simple nor one-size-fits-all. Belonging is not just a warm feeling of inclusion or the fact of being accepted into a program. It is dynamic, deeply personal, and shaped by who we are, where we come from, and how the institution around us responds to those identities. For graduate students, faculty,  and administrators who support them, understanding the complexities of belonging is key to building communities where everyone can thrive.

Research offers us diverse perspectives that help illuminate the full scope of this concept. Briscoe et al. (2022) describe belonging as a sense of inclusion, validation, and support that allows graduate students of color to engage fully and authentically in their programs. While Godbee and Novotny (2013) push this definition further, suggesting that belonging is not merely given—it is a right that must be asserted and actively cultivated, especially in spaces where marginalized students have historically been overlooked or excluded. Other scholars remind us that belonging is made up of multiple interwoven threads. Fernández, Ryan, and Begeny (2023) identify three essential components: 1) the freedom to be one’s authentic self; 2) the presence of shared experiences with peers; and 3) the navigational knowledge needed to decode the often-hidden curriculum of graduate school. In short, students need to feel they can show up as their full selves, connect with others who understand their journey, and access the tools required to succeed in a system that was not necessarily built with them in mind.

These elements may sound abstract, but their effects are deeply personal. For students, the absence of belonging can feel like a quiet ache, a persistent sense of being on the outside looking in. In contrast, when belonging is present, it often shows up in small but profound ways: an affirming conversation with a mentor, an honest dialogue with a peer, or a classroom where difference is not only acknowledged but welcomed.

What do students say they need to feel that they belong?

Across studies, a few themes emerge repeatedly. They speak of needing community and connection—real relationships with peers and faculty, whether built in seminar rooms or over Zoom (Briscoe et al., 2022). They talk about the importance of being seen and validated, especially when their experiences of racism, ableism, or other forms of marginalization are minimized or ignored (Fernández et al., 2023). Mentorship is vital, but not just of the academic kind; students need guides who will advocate for them in navigating complex systems and biases (Godbee & Novotny, 2013). They also need equity in practice. This includes clear information, financial and structural support, and accommodations that do not require them to exhaust themselves advocating for what should already be in place (Karpicz, 2020). Perhaps most crucially, students need help developing confidence  through learning the “unwritten rules” that can make a graduate program feel either navigable or unknowable.

One student put it simply:

“I needed a faculty member to just say, ‘I see you. I know this is hard, but you belong here.’ That would have changed everything” (Briscoe et al., 2022, p. 98).

In those few words, it is the truth that belonging is not just about support—it is about recognition.

Of course, the responsibility for cultivating belonging does not lie solely with students. It never has. Faculty, departments, and institutions play a significant role in shaping the environments that make belonging possible. That begins with mentoring—not as a hierarchical, one-directional process, but as a collaborative and reciprocal relationship. Godbee and Novotny (2013) describe this as co-mentoring; a model rooted in feminist praxis that allows both mentors and mentees to grow through mutual support and shared vulnerability.

Curriculum also matters. When diverse perspectives are siloed into elective courses or treated as “add-ons,” they reinforce marginalization rather than inclusion. Briscoe et al. (2022) argue for embedding equity into the heart of the academic experience, normalizing diverse voices as integral to intellectual inquiry rather than exceptional.

Accessibility, too, must be proactive rather than reactive. Karpicz (2020) notes that students should not have to constantly advocate for themselves to gain access to resources or participate fully in their academic programs. Institutions that reduce barriers before they are encountered send a powerful message: You belong here—and we have made room for you.

Equally important is the recognition that belonging is not static. As student demographics, needs, and contexts shift, so too must our approaches. There is no checklist for belonging, no final “fix.” Instead, it is an ongoing practice—of listening, reflecting, adapting, and co-creating with students, not simply for them.

Graduate students have long spoken to the emotional texture of belonging in ways that research alone cannot capture. One student shared, 

“Her success motivates me; it feels like we’re building something together, not just surviving grad school alone” (Godbee & Novotny, 2013, p. 184). 

Another, feeling the weight of being the only one to bring up race in conversations, admitted,

 “Sometimes I feel like I am just the diversity box they can check. It is exhausting…” (Briscoe et al., 2022, p. 95). 

These statements underscore how fragile, yet how vital, the experience of belonging can be.

And sometimes, belonging is expressed in the simplest of terms. As one student reflected, 

“Just my being here is self-advocacy” (Karpicz, 2020, p. 140).

In that sentence lives both the challenge and the quiet strength of showing up fully, even in spaces that were not designed with you in mind.

Belonging in graduate school is not a finish line to cross—it is a relationship to be nurtured over time. When students are empowered to bring their full selves to the table, when they are supported not just academically but personally and culturally, they flourish. They take risks. They grow. They lead.

And as one student beautifully put it, 

“Through these weekly sessions, I do not just get help on my writing. I get reminded that I belong here—that my work matters” (Godbee & Novotny, 2013, p. 183).

In the end, which is what we are building—not just degrees, but communities of care, courage, and shared purpose.

References

Briscoe, K. L., Moore, C. M., Kaler-Jones, C., & Ford, J. R. (2022). “We don’t feel like we belong”: Graduate students’ of color racialized experiences in hybrid HESA graduate programs. Journal Committed to Social Change on Race and Ethnicity, 8(2), 78–114. https://doi.org/10.15763/issn.2642-2387.2022.8.2.78-114

Fernández, D. P., Ryan, M. K., & Begeny, C. T. (2023). Recognizing the diversity in how students define belonging: Evidence of differing conceptualizations, including as a function of students’ gender and socioeconomic background. Social Psychology of Education: An International Journal, 26(3), 673–708. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-023-09761-7

Godbee, B., & Novotny, J. C. (2013). Asserting the right to belong: Feminist co-mentoring among graduate student women. Feminist Teacher, 23(3), 177–195. https://doi.org/10.5406/femteacher.23.3.0177

Karpicz, J. R. (2020). “Just my being here is self-advocacy”: Exploring the self-advocacy experiences of disabled graduate students of color. Journal Committed to Social Change on Race and Ethnicity, 6(1), 137–163. https://doi.org/10.15763/issn.2642-2387.2020.6.1.137-163