No Rapunzel in This Ivory Tower: Finding Your Collective and Overcoming Academic Isolation

Abstract

A common refrain among graduate students and academics is that graduate school can feel isolating. For those from historically marginalized populations, the colleagues who share the closest scholarly knowledge are unlikely to also share similar experiences of academic life. This chapter provides reflections from the authors on using social media to find, create, and maintain a community and examples of how we have leveraged our community to support personal and professional growth as graduate students. In addition, we offer institutional and individual level guidance regarding how to build communities in the political science discipline and why this intentional practice of community building provides short-term and long-term benefits to graduate students, departments, and the discipline as a whole. This manuscript is part of Strategies for Navigating Graduate School and Beyond, a forthcoming volume for those interested in pursuing graduate education in political science (Fall 2022 publication)