A first-generation graduate student is an individual in the first generation of their immediate family to not only earn a bachelor’s degree, but also pursue graduate studies. Below are some tips for overcoming the unique challenges associated with being a first-generation graduate student in engineering.

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• The graduate student handbook defines your fundamental rights and responsibilities in the program. Be sure to read it thoroughly to understand institutional policies and your privileges as a graduate student.
  
  
• Work with your advisor(s) to craft a graduate experience that fits your goals. Advising quality may be variable across institutions, so do not be afraid to verify information with others or seek a second opinion.
  
  
• Identify sources of institutional support early. These are the people you can turn to for direction and guidance as you navigate your coursework, research, and career decisions.
  
  
• Reach out to potential advisors in your field outside of your institution. Network with these individuals at conferences and keep them updated on your progress. These connections can provide helpful perspectives and feedback as you progress through your program.
  
  
• Check in with yourself frequently throughout your program to ensure that you are on track to achieve your goals.
  
  
• Leverage your strengths to help others in your program, and do not be afraid to reach out and form productive collaborations with others. Expand your network of both professionals and peers.
  
  
• Recognize the unique strengths that you bring to your graduate program. Be proactive in making your institution inclusive and welcoming to other first-gen students.

GradSWE at the University of Arkansas (UArk) was started by Gurshagan Kandhola and Karla Morrissey in 2018. They realized that there were many highly motivated female engineering graduate students at their school, but not many events tailored to meeting the needs of these graduate students. From their first event - “Confessions of a Grad Student,” a well-attended discussion where students found common ground - to the numerous personal and professional development events since then, GradSWE at UArk is creating the space its founders envisioned where graduate students can participate in extracurricular activities that improve their graduate school experiences. The group has expanded to a team of 10 dedicated officers and over fifty members enrolled in their listserv. They seek an inclusive environment and diverse membership as well as leadership, with male and female officers coming from a variety of fields, including statistics and materials science.
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Highlights from the past year include a Building a Successful Relationship with Your PI panel, where tips and strategies provided clarity for students experiencing struggles in their lab, and a Brunch Social, which brought together students from in and outside of STEM with a shared interest in improving graduate student life. In collaboration with the rest of the UArk SWE section, GradSWE hosted an industry event with Engineering Compliance & Construction, Inc. (ECCI), where the owner and two project engineers from the company shared advice for future career success, including how to navigate a male-dominated work environment. GradSWE UArk’s other event collaborators include the UArk Association of Women in Science Chapter and Graduate Professional Student Congress.
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This year, multiple members had the opportunity to attend WE19 in Anaheim, CA and WE Local Salt Lake City. By engaging with the larger GradSWE and SWE communities through participating in sessions and networking, as well as the Collegiate Leadership Institute and Collegiate Competition programming, students returned inspired and with a desire to get more involved. We look forward to seeing how the group continues to empower students at Arkansas and engage with SWE locally and internationally!
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Congratulations to GradSWE at the University of Arkansas! To learn more about this group, check out their webpage!

Amy is an active SWE member, advocate for graduate student success, and aspiring researcher. She is a 3rd year graduate student at Vanderbilt University studying Chemical Engineering, where she studies how to create a novel strain of algae optimized for biofuel production. She is currently a member of the SWE Graduate Community Leadership Team, where she is a veteran leader within the Mentoring Program.

​Amy first became a SWE member as a freshman at the University of Kansas. Even as an undergraduate student, Amy supported the interests of graduate students by serving as that section’s Graduate Student Coordinator for two years where she built bridges between undergraduate and graduate students on her campus. For example, she established an annual seminar where faculty and graduate students could inspire interest in their research topics and share opportunities with undergraduates. Amy also served as the President of the University of Kansas SWE section, where she led a team of ten executive members, managed section-wide meetings, organized an annual conference trip, and worked with the alumni center to raise money and recruit guest speakers.​

Currently Amy is the Developmental Mentoring Coordinator for the societal GradSWE Mentoring Team. In her second year in the role, Amy has taken on increasing responsibility leading the four-person team, organizing bi-weekly meetings, helping new mentoring chairs transition into their positions, and improving other logistical and documentation processes. Her main responsibility is increasing available resources for program participants, such as newsletters and other pertinent content, as well as developing enrollment and assessment surveys to analyze program satisfaction. 

Last fall Amy took her growing expertise on mentoring to a larger audience: the annual WE19 conference in Anaheim, CA. Her panel, “Mentoring in Graduate School” was accepted for presentation and well attended, despite being one of the last sessions of the conference. The panel consisted of three professionals, a graduate student, and two undergraduates and raised awareness of how mentoring can help increase the number of women engineers that go to graduate school and guide graduate students in increasing their career potential.
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On campus, Amy has also held leadership roles within the Vanderbilt Chemical Engineering Graduate Student Association. In the community she participates in several organizations which do K-12 outreach in Nashville and across Tennessee. She organized lectures for and created a fun and active learning environment for high school student through the Vanderbilt Solar Cell Outreach program for two years and taught science lessons to middle school students through the Vanderbilt Students Volunteers for Science program for a semester.

Amy’s potential as an aspiring chemical engineering researcher has been recognized by a variety of awards and invitations, such as the prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. She has received a travel grant to the International Society of Photosynthetic Research conference and presented posters at the Genomic Sciences Program DOE meeting and the Microbiome Conference.

Amy is an engaged and dependable leader, passionate about empowering graduate students through valuable resources and networks. She plans to stay involved with SWE throughout her collegiate career, to use her personal and previous experiences to continue to make SWE and GradSWE more effective and inclusive for all female engineering graduate students.

The SWE Graduate Community is proud to recognize Amy Zheng (Vanderbilt University) as a 2020 GradSWE Outstanding Individual!