Tag Archives: graduate Students

Join the APAGS-CSOGD Mentorship Program

By Liz Deibel

Graduate students!!!

  • Are you looking for an LGBTQIA+ psychologist, professional, or advanced graduate student to support your professional development?
  • Would you like to have a sounding board to discuss the challenges and opportunities related to sexuality and gender in the professional field of psychology?
  • Have you wanted to forge connections with other psychologists who share your commitment to working with the LGBTQIA+ community?

Professionals or advanced graduate students!!!

  • Are you interested in taking an LGBTQIA+ graduate student under your wing?
  • Are you passionate about providing support to the LGBTQIA+ student community?
  • Do you want to share your experiences and expertise to help students find their professional voice?

The American Psychological Association of Graduate Students Committee on Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity (APAGS-CSOGD) offers a yearlong mentoring program (January 2024 – January 2025) for LGBTQIA+ graduate students in psychology to be mentored by colleagues who share similar interests, experiences, and goals.

The (free!) mentorship program offers unique and individualized experiences for graduate students to gain further support, advice, and perspectives throughout their professional journey. Mentees are paired with mentors in terms of clinical interests, time commitment, and intersecting identities. Mentors can offer a sounding-board for professional questions, guidance for research or clinical paths, and encouragement throughout times of higher stress levels. 

If you are interested in becoming either a mentor or a mentee, please click one of the applications below based on your position of choice. If you have any further questions, please visit the Mentoring Program webpage or email Ritu Verma.

Mentee application

Mentor application

Mentorship as a Grad Student: How and Why

Mentoring is a dynamic, collaborative relationship wherein a mentor and mentee work together to facilitate a mentee’s professional development and success. As a first-generation American, my success in academia would not have been possible without the help of several mentors along the way. My current mentoring efforts are inspired by positive experiences with my own mentors, and the hope that I can pay it forward to others. Becoming a mentor can help disseminate knowledge, foster an environment for psychological safety, learning, and development, reveal the “hidden curriculum” of graduate school, and enhance diversity in higher education.

Mentoring Prospective Graduate Students

As a graduate student, there are several opportunities to become a mentor. One opportunity is during the graduate school application process. There are many programs designed to connect eager undergraduates and post-baccalaureates with mentors during the graduate school application process. Some are within certain schools or types of programs (e.g., Social Psychology; School Psychology), for underrepresented individuals (e.g., NextGen Psych Scholars; Project Short), or just general programs (e.g., APSSC, APA Division 19). The structure and level of commitment will vary by the program and by each mentor/mentee relationship. Typically, the mentor will meet a couple of times with the mentee, provide helpful materials for crafting personal statements and CVs, and edit materials. Particularly salient for underrepresented mentees, the mentor can help select graduate programs that are a good match and identify scholarships and funding opportunities. If that sounds too time intensive, there are other ways to help prospective PhD psychology applicants. See Application Statement Feedback Program (ASFP).

Mentoring Undergraduate and Younger Graduate Students

A more traditional mentorship role in graduate school is to mentor undergraduate students in your research lab. Undergraduates often help with literature reviews, running participants, or other miscellaneous research tasks. As a mentor, you could help lead journal clubs or provide direct research opportunities within one of your research projects, carefully observing and guiding them throughout the process. For example, I am currently mentoring an undergraduate student involved in a systematic review I am working on. As a mentor, I provide didactic instruction on types of reviews and guidance on the research process.

As a graduate student, you might also serve another role as a teaching assistant. Teaching assistants have a more formal teaching relationship with their students but can still provide mentorship. This can look like holding office hours and meeting one-on-one with students who show interest in your research or in a PhD program.

You can also mentor students in their early graduate school career. As you progress through the program, you gain valuable knowledge not only in your selected discipline, but also in how to be a graduate student. Younger students may benefit from any wisdom, tips, and skills you can pass on. These topics can vary from time management skills, course selections, clinical practicum advice, advice on advocating for oneself, and handling rejection. Things that may seem like second nature now, may be valuable wisdom to a first-year graduate student.

Irrelevant of the type of mentoring relationship, mentees are eager to learn from you. You can disseminate information about the field (e.g., different types of paths post undergrad), research (e.g., how to go about starting a literature review), classes (e.g., which classes to take to best prepare for graduate school or for a certain degree), or other areas that may help your mentee grow professionally. Although it may seem challenging, mentoring is a rewarding experience, fostering a collaborative relationship that benefits both individuals involved!

Want to become a mentor?

  1. Sign up to mentor students applying to graduate programs (see links above).
  2. Reach out to your advisor and ask if you can mentor undergraduates.
  3. Take initiative and offer to help younger graduate students.

Written by Marianne Chirica, an APAGS Science Committee member and a second-year graduate student in the Psychological and Brain Sciences Ph.D. program at Indiana University. Feel free to reach out to Marianne with any questions you may have!

Increased Student Voices Across APA! We Won Seats at the Table!

By Quincy Guinadi, MA

On behalf of the American Psychological Association of Graduate Students (APAGS), I am thrilled to announce that graduate students are now eligible to run for elected and appointed seats on 19 APA Boards and Committees based on the results of the August Council of Representative meeting and the recent membership vote with 82.28% in favor! Graduate students will be eligible to be slated for Board and Committees as early as January 2024, with their terms beginning in 2025 (see list at the end). This exciting and important change will increase the inclusion of graduate student perspectives at some of the highest levels of APA and grant us a seat at the table. This is another huge victory towards our vision of increasing student voices across APA. 

First and foremost, I would like to express my utmost gratitude for the hard work and advocacy efforts spearheaded by my fellow Student Voice Workgroup members and APAGS staff: Mary Fernandes, Nicole Evangelista, Melanie Arenson, Martina Fruhbauerova, Wendy Williams, Heather Dade, and Ritu Verma. They spent countless hours putting together the agenda item, attending town halls, listening and addressing concerns, and finalizing the bylaw amendment changes. Kudos to your perseverance and passionate fight for student voices, what a well-deserved victory!

We also received overwhelming support from our APAGS and APA members from the start through the end of this journey. We would like to recognize and express our sincerest thank you to numerous allies across the Association and beyond. Thank you to the APA Board of Directors, the APA Council Leadership Team, the APA Council of Representatives, and numerous APA Boards and Committees. Thank you for your continued and unconditional support towards the growth and enrichment of our future as a profession and association! 

Last but not the least, a huge thank you to our APAGS leaders and members, APA members, and allies across other organizations who helped us spread the word about this important vote by sharing it on social media, advocating with State, Provincial, and Territorial Psychological Associations, and voicing support across Divisions, Boards, and Committees. We also cannot forget the immense support from voters, the Council of Representatives and APA members; we thank you for utilizing your voting rights and power to advocate for the inclusion of student voices and perspectives in APA. 

What began as a vision last year quickly became a reality. This is another monumental step for APA graduate students and the future of APA. As APAGS, we are thrilled to witness new and diverse graduate students step up and share their wisdom. Graduate students bring a wealth of expertise in practice, research, and advocacy, which propels the profession and association forward as we move into the future of psychology. 

List of APA Boards and Committees seats available to graduate students in 2024:

Again, I am so pleased to share this victory with you. We are elated to welcome new graduate student leaders and their valuable perspective onboard these APA Boards and Committees! You are welcome to reach out to me or our staff if you have any questions.

Yours in solidarity, 

Quincy Guinadi, MA

2023 APAGS Chair 

COVID-19 Pandemic: The Not So Grey Side

This post is a part of the series, “CARED Perspectives,” developed by the APAGS Committee for the Advancement of Racial and Ethnic Diversity (CARED). This series discusses current events and how these events relate to graduate students in psychology. If you are interested in contributing to the CARED Perspectives series, please contact Terrill Taylor, Chair of APAGS-CARED.

By Sonia Rehman

There is no doubt that the pandemic wreaked havoc on human lives. However, it connected us in numerous ways as well. The modified lifestyle due to COVID-19 offered me new ways to conduct my personal and professional life. I consider myself the beneficiary of the new virtual world, and here’s my story.

As the world turned toward holding virtual rather than in-person events, it enabled me to attend numerous national and international conferences, without incurring traveling and lodging costs. It also allowed several of my colleagues from Pakistan and India to participate in conferences in the US for the first time. Securing a visa to visit the US has been a significant challenge for students in developing countries, so virtual conferences made it possible for anyone around the world to become a part of this learning experience with reduced registration fees and no need for a visa. During networking events, international participants shared their perspectives on advancements made in the field and discussed opportunities for collaboration. The emerging prospect of in-person conferences made me wonder about what might result in limited accessibility for these events. I believe our field can benefit from remaining accessible, especially as increased migration and telecommunication advancements continue to change the biopsychosocial aspects of human lives.

There is an increased opportunity to learn from one another in this new digitized world. For example, the new norm of connecting virtually allowed me to have a mentor in Spain. With her help, I look forward to getting involved in international collaborations to advance my understanding of neuropsychology through a cross-cultural lens. At the beginning of my doctoral program, I was interested in exploring psychological issues for minority adolescents and joined a research lab accordingly. As I progressed through the program, I became more interested in neuropsychology and wanted to engage in research in that area. However, my options were limited, and a break appeared imminent.

As many labs resorted to working virtually due to the pandemic, it opened opportunities to get involved remotely. I applied to and became a part of a lab that operates in northern California even while I live near Washington, DC. The accessibility of this kind of remote opportunity has been a great asset for many students and continues to connect scholars worldwide.

Receiving training in teleassessment is another benefit of the increasingly virtual world. Providing psychological interventions remotely has enabled many minority patients to seek services who may have otherwise been unable to travel the distance to clinics. . Telehealth has also increased access to medical and mental health care for families living in rural areas. I am especially thrilled at the prospect of increasing the scope of neuropsychology through telemedicine. Finally, taking online classes has enabled me to attend to my children’s needs and coordinate my parents’ medical appointments, all while actively pursuing my dream of becoming a clinical neuropsychologist.

I thank you for reading my COVID-19 story.

9 Tips for Navigating an In-Person Convention

By Amanda Wisinger, APAGS Convention Committee

A return to in-person conferences is likely bringing about a mix of emotions for students – both positive and negative. Many of us have spent the better part of two years attending classes and seminars behind computer screens. For some of us, our entire graduate school experience has been spent in virtual spaces with limited opportunities to connect in-person with our peers and professors. We have grown adept at navigating a variety of typically in-person events being held virtually, such as dissertation defenses, interviews for practicum and internship, and even professional conferences.

If you are attending the APA Convention in Minneapolis this August in-person, it may be your first in-person conference ever. Or, your first in-person conference in a few years. While virtual conferences provided us with many benefits (e.g., reduced travel and lodging costs, the ability to refill your coffee by simply taking a few steps into your kitchen, attending sessions in your sweatpants, etc.), there were undoubtedly many opportunities that virtual events did not provide – including the ability to form new professional relationships and contacts through in-person networking.

Here are my top tips to boost your networking skills and make the most of an in-person Convention:

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