Getting Started in Grad School: 5.6 Self-Advocacy in Graduate School

It is important to self-advocate from the start. For instance, PhD students (and, to an extent, thesis-based Master’s students) may self-advocate by negotiating funding, authorship (e.g., first author on co-authored publications), deadlines and the like before starting their studies (Tan & Temel, 2023).  

The CGPS Student-Supervisor Agreement is a valuable document for facilitating such conversations. While created to facilitate dialogue between graduate students and their supervisors, this document is also useful for reflecting on the relationships between students and instructors generally.  

For a refresher on the resources and supports that are available to USask students, visit the Managing Common Challenges module.

Complete the following short activity, which involves identifying effective and ineffective self-advocacy strategies. As you complete the task, ask yourself which strategies you currently use and which you might adopt.