Graduate Students and Networking

Networking in Student Affairs

Student Affairs Networking

Graduate students who will be moving into work in higher education and student affairs have much to consider, including professional development and networking. Ideally, that networking should start well before graduation is imminent, because it allows the student to develop contacts in the professional world before he or she moves into that world on a more permanent basis. Students who have professional contacts before they finish graduate school are more likely to see success in the working world in an earlier time frame, which can help those students make the transition from educational institution to professional working environment more easily.

While this type of networking and development does not guarantee success, it is one of the most significant things a student can do to move toward career placement and advancement in his or her chosen field. The literature that is addressed in Chapter Two will focus on the networking that is seen among graduate students in general, with as much emphasis as possible on those who are moving into careers related to higher education administration. Since the literature on that specific career path is scant, at best, an overview of networking and professional development in the graduate student population will be provided. This will show both the valuable information needed by graduate students when it comes to networking, and the large gap in the literature where higher education administration, graduate students, and networking is considered.

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to detail the information that is important for graduate students who are focused on professional development. These students must take care to learn all they can about their chosen profession, and there are several ways to do that. The knowledge they acquire in the classroom matters a great deal, but so does the networking they will engage in while they are still at their educational institution. Mixers and other events, where the graduate students get to know professional contacts in their chosen profession, can be among the most vital ways to gain valuable contacts that can serve them well once they have completed their academic work.

The main question to be answered is why it is so important for graduate students in higher education administration and young professional in student affairs to network while they are still in graduate school, along with how this can best be done. Addressing both of these issues will provide the necessary insight for the topic.

Key Terms

There are only minimal key terms that need to be addressed here, in order to ensure that the study is clear and complete.

1. Graduate Student -- A graduate student is one who is enrolled in an institution of higher education for a degree that goes beyond baccalaureate.

2. Higher Education Administration -- Those who work in higher education administration oversee educational institutions and the students who attend those schools.

3. Student Affairs -- Those who work in student affairs are focused closely on the students who are enrolled in educational institutions, to ensure these students have a good experience and are prepared for professional life after graduation.

4. Networking -- Networking involves interaction with others who can provide help, advice, and information as it relates to a particular project, career, or life path.

Limitations

All studies have limitations. This study is limited to what is examined through the literature review, and the information gleaned from a social that allowed local university and college student affairs groups to meet and greet one another. That exchange of ideas was important, but it may be difficult to extrapolate that information out to all other colleges and universities throughout the country. Regional, cultural, and other differences all matter, and have to be considered. Lack of a manual to follow when getting into graduate school for a higher education degree is also of particular concern, as many students are left struggling with networking and related issues.

Significance of Professional Contribution

This professional contribution will help to fill a gap that is currently seen in the literature, when it comes to specific information on networking in higher education administration. Additionally, the creation of a manual for handling higher education administration networking and other, related factors is something that is long overdue. The importance of it cannot be overemphasized, as it can provide significant insight into what graduate students in this field of study should be looking for and how they can network properly, to form the right kinds of professional contacts.

Chapter Two

Literature Review

Networking for professional development is nothing new, but there have been some new ways of handling the issue that have appeared in recent years. As technology advances, the way people relate to one another and how they react to each other has changed to some extent. Meeting in person, though, is still the best way to interact and develop good networking skills. Being able to put a name with a face is important, and can help people built trust and rapport they would not otherwise have (Rhoten & Parker, 2004). That is not to say that social media and online interaction does not have its place in networking for student affairs and higher education professionals, but only that the "old fashioned" route is generally the best choice. Getting the time to network, knowing who to talk to, and finding the right places to meet and greet others are all issues that plague people who are new to a particular profession (Rhoten & Parker, 2012). Those are among the reasons why it is so important to focus on making the proper connections while still in a graduate program, so there is a "leg up" on those who have not done so.

It should be noted that there has been rather extensive research on undergraduate students when it comes to socialization into professional roles through networking and other means. However, very little has been done in this regard when it comes to graduate students. Researchers like Gardner and Barnes (2007) saw that literature gap, and determined to focus on the graduate students and what they were getting/not getting from interaction with professional contacts. There are several issues that have to be addressed, and those include why the graduate students were not being studied, whether they were receiving good interaction with other students, and whether their school's administration was offering them anything they could really use when it came to understanding how to find contacts and connect with same. It is one thing to be aware that networking in graduate school is important, and another thing to know how to do it correctly, and have the tools and opportunities to do so.

Differences in Graduate vs. Undergraduate Networking

Gardner and Barnes (2007) determined that there are many differences between the way graduates and undergraduates network. With more than 1.5 million graduate students enrolled in master's and doctoral problems throughout the United States, there are a number of people who are going to be graduating within the next few years and moving into careers for which they have been training -- in some cases for many years. There have also been concerns with graduate education that include but are not limited to attrition rates, how long many people take to complete a degree, whether there are jobs available in a chosen field, and the true value of the educational experience for those who are working to attain master's and doctoral degrees (Gardner & Barnes, 2007). Among the fears of those who undertake graduate education is networking properly in order to be successful. This can be particularly difficult for those who go through their entire academic career without working in their chosen field, because they do not have contacts there (Gardner & Barnes, 2007).

Undergraduates have less of a networking issue, generally because they can get into their chosen field after a shorter period of academic work, which means that they have less to prove to those who are hiring them (Gardner & Barnes, 2007). Once a person embarks on a master's or doctoral degree path, he or she is moving into territory that is generally considered to be far beyond what most people will attain during their careers (Gardner & Barnes, 2007). With the pride and abilities comes difficulty. Most individuals who are in graduate school must either put off their career aspirations until their graduate schooling is complete, or take a break from their career to attend school and attain a higher level of education (Gardner & Barnes, 2007). Some are also unemployed, or they attend school in the evenings after they have finished work for the day. Often, they are short on time to network, and would not know who to contact or how to reach out to others who may be headed for the same career path, in order to start developing contacts (Gardner, & Barnes, 2007).

Mentoring and Networking

Naturally, that puts the graduate student at a distinct disadvantage over the undergraduate student when it comes to networking. However, Gardner and Barnes (2007) are not the only ones who are aware of (and concerned with) the ways in which graduate students can fail to get the networking they need in order to be successful (Summers-Ewing, 1994). As such, a certain amount of mentoring of the graduate student is important to help that student develop the skills needed to network properly. According to Fedynich and Bain (2011), mentoring is a vital part of making sure graduate students receive a complete experience that will prepare them for their career path (Summers-Ewing, 1994). That mentoring can be done in many different ways, including one-on-one options and group settings where the graduate student has an opportunity to learn and be coached (Fedynich & Bain, 2011). While both options are good, the group setting helps to blur the lines between mentoring and networking, easing the graduate student into the ability to network, and allowing him or her to find contacts in his or her chosen field (Fedynich & Bain, 2011).

Faculty mentoring has another advantage to the graduate student, especially to those students who are headed into higher education administration and/or student affairs, because mentoring helps them to learn to network with peers, superiors, and students who are seeking lower level degrees or who are not as far into the course of their studies as they are (Fedynich & Bain, 2011). In other words, it helps them learn to network with people on all different levels, which is something especially important for the graduate student, and for anyone who plans to make a career out of working with students. One cannot adequately help others if he or she has not learned how to properly network with those others and the people who may be valuable to them (Fedynich & Bain, 2011).

The Benefit of a Graduate Student Portfolio in Networking

Blair and Monske (2009) studied how graduate students have found ways to balance their professional and academic lives more easily, and how they have used that balance to their advantage when they network with others. One of the ways these students do this successfully is through a portfolio. These can be in print, but most are electronic. The ePortfolio has the benefit of being able to be transmitted anywhere, to almost anyone, at virtually any time (Blair & Monske, 2009). Electronic portfolios are used by a number of professionals, and there is strong evidence that graduate students should be using these ePortfolios well before they graduate with their master's or doctoral degrees (Blair & Monske, 2009). Academic, career, and volunteer information can and should all be a part of these portfolios, along with any internships or research assistant positions the student has been involved with throughout his or her graduate career (Blair & Monske, 2009).

Among the important aspects of the portfolio are the ways in which it can help the students make professional contacts while they are still in their course of graduate studies (Blair & Monske, 2009). By doing that, they are much better able to move forward with their academic and professional careers, and balance them in such a way that they receive the most benefit of both of those aspects. Doctoral students, particularly, must focus on networking because they often spend a great deal of their time in classes and at their chosen profession. They have little time for networking, during a time in their lives when doing so has never been more important (Agre, 2002). It is not just about building something of good academic standing, but about ensuring the right people are aware of it (Agre, 2002).

Developing a Professional Identity

The mentoring, portfolios, and other ways of moving toward proper networking behavior all have one goal in mind: to help the graduate student develop a professional identity by which that student can obtain contacts that will help him or her move forward in life and career. Singh, Vinnicombe, and James (2006) place their focus on this professional identity, through studying the use of role models. It is generally possible to develop role models without networking, but until and unless networking becomes a part of a graduate student's life, that student may not really know as much about the role model as would be expected (Wagner, et al., 2012). In other words, it is possible to choose someone as a role model or mentor, and then get to know that person and determine that he or she is not someone to be admired or followed (Singh, Vinnicombe, & James, 2006). With proper networking, that is much less likely. Graduate students who network get to know one another, and get to know people who already work in the higher education administration and student affairs fields of which they want to be a part.

That networking and knowledge means that each graduate student can work with people they feel comfortable with, and develop connections and mentors who are right for them and who they actually know (Singh, Vinnicombe, & James, 2006). The professional identity that is developed by a graduate student may change as that student move through school, and as he or she makes his or her way into a career setting, but the formation of that identity should begin as early in graduate school as possible, in order to have time for strong mentoring and networking that can help the student see success (Singh, Vinnicombe, & James, 2006). It is not always easy for graduate students to find the time to network, but the importance of making time for networking cannot be overstated. The time for networking must be made in order to develop a proper professional identity (Singh, Vinnicombe, & James, 2006).

The Effect of Family Issues on Networking Ability

One of the issues graduate students must deal with, and that often keeps them from networking properly, is family. That is generally seen because graduate students tend to be older, and a high number of them have married and had children before they undertake their graduate education. For these graduate students, juggling children, work, a graduate education, and networking can seem completely and thoroughly overwhelming (Springer, Parker, & Leviten-Reid, 2009). Even for graduate students who attend school full time and do not have to work, doing that and taking care of a family at the same time can seem like too much to handle. When networking is added on top of those other duties, the graduate student may decide that the networking is not something that can be made into a priority, simply because there is not time to do so (Springer, Parker, & Leviten-Reid, 2009). Unfortunately, the networking has to be a priority because it will have such a strong affect on whether the student is successful in moving into a professional career.

With the high number of graduate students who are already parents -- or who become parents during the course of their studies -- attempting to network with so much else going on in their lives is becoming exceedingly more difficult for them to handle (Springer, Parker, & Leviten-Reid, 2009). That difficulty is manifesting itself in students who are not getting the graduate school education and networking opportunities they really need, mostly because they do not have the knowledge of how to network in the most efficient ways, even when they have many other things going on in their lives (Springer, Parker, & Leviten-Reid, 2009). Teaching these graduate students ways to network that can be done around parenting and education can go a long way toward allowing them to develop a professional identity and be recognized by others with whom they may work in the future.

The Cohort Approach

There are many ways in which graduate students can move toward better networking opportunities to help them succeed as they transition from their education to their professional life. The way a student learns, and how that student is able to learn best, is one of the most important facets of the issue that has to be considered (Browne-Ferrigno & Muth, 2004). While there are a number of facets to student learning, how they are mentored and how they are able to network with others who are important to their academic and professional careers matters a great deal. One way this can be accomplished is through cohorts (Browne-Ferrigno & Muth, 2004). These are groups of people who band together, and when they do that through activities that allow them to network with one another, they are much better able to address concerns they face, most commonly because they have other people with similar concerns with whom they can commiserate (Browne-Ferrigno & Muth, 2004).

Having cohorts has been shown to improve graduate students' abilities to move forward in their academic and professional careers, because being part of a group or team helps them learn valuable networking skills they can use within that group and with others (Browne-Ferrigno & Muth, 2004). The people who are included in the cohort, though, are important, as it is necessary to put graduate students with others who are similar to them and with those who can help them in their professional lives, in order for the cohort approach to have value (Browne-Ferrigno & Muth, 2004). The more interaction graduate students have with one another, the more they learn ways to network with people from all different walks of life and those who are in different career paths. That is important for students who are looking to move into higher education administration and student affairs, since they will be required to work with many different types of people in their chosen profession.