Identify the issue

Understand the Context: Overview

Understand the Context refers to recognizing the environment in which a particular concern arises.  To start, universities reflect systemic issues in our society that are intransigent and have a disproportionate impact on diverse women.  Further, graduate school is a type of subculture within the university that carries a set of expectations and norms generally developed long ago by people who are not like you.  

Focusing on the context of opportunities or challenges you experience is critical for the anti-deficit framework that we use in the CareerWISE Academic Resilience Coach. We consider context to represent the local and systemic elements that are outside of you and over which you may have little control.   

We support activism for systemic change and applaud the many efforts on university campuses, through national initiatives, and public action to make studying, working, and living environments more friendly and equitable for diverse women.  You may be leading or participating in these activities yourself.

Nevertheless, while these larger scale efforts are ongoing, you may be experiencing incidents almost everyday where you could use some support. In the CareerWISE Academic Resilience Coach, we aim to expand your knowledge and equip you with tools to manage current personal and interpersonal situations in the contexts where they arise. In this Understand the Context set of modules, we describe social and academic conditions that spark the challenges you may face, along with resources that are available to you.