A Student-Centered Research Manifesto
As a professor at a liberal arts university, I spend a significant amount of time advancing my research goals. But I don’t use that time just to publish and participate in my scholarly community. I use research as a critical practice for empowering my students.
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Research opportunities are increasingly common for undergraduate students — through faculty research at undergraduate institutions, REUs, and graduate labs that welcome undergrads. But an inclusive research environment that prioritizes student mentorship requires new models and new guiding principles. The goals aren’t the same and the processes aren’t the same, so the ways we measure and define success shouldn’t be the same either. While I do not always live up to my ideals, I’ve outlined a set of guiding principles I use for student-centered research.
My Student-Centered Research Manifesto
- Student-centered research should be open. Insider knowledge should not dictate opportunity. Students shouldn’t receive research opportunities simply because they have more institutional knowledge (they know to walk into my office and ask) or opportunity (they were in my class). I will try to broadly publicize my meetings and keep an open door.
- Student-centered research should be accessible. Research availability should not be driven by systemic advantages that students received in the past. I will try to create access points to my projects for students who arrive at my university with less specialized training in my field. Acknowledging that free time is a luxury, I will also try to make portions of my research accessible to students who may only be able to devote a handful of hours.
- Student-centered research should be compensated. Volunteer work is a privilege many cannot afford. I will try to compensate my students in a such a way that makes it feasible for those with financial challenges (through academic credit, payment).
- Student-centered research success should not be defined by publications, jobs, or grad school attendance. Success is growth. Success is seeing your field from a new vantage point. I will advocate for institutions to consider alternative metrics for student-centered research.
- Student-centered research should value process over product. I will try not to compromise mentorship for publications. Student development is the most critical outcome.
- Student-centered research should not sacrifice quality. Our research should not be less meaningful or rigorous simply because our students are not pursuing PhDs. I will not tradeoff quality in pursuit of publications.
- Student-centered research should celebrate the students. When people ask about my research, I will try to push my students in front of myself. When I give research talks, I will try to point to my students. I will try to treat them as collaborators in process, authorship, and networking opportunities.
- Student-centered research should help students engage with the broader impacts of research. I will try to avoid having my students work on narrow problems without encouraging them to understand the larger (social and other) contexts in which these questions are important. (from Darakhshan Mir)
- Student-centered research should empower the students. I will try to create processes for students to investigate questions that are meaningful to them. I will try to guide them with the expertise that I have, and find colleagues who have the expertise that I don’t. (from Darakhshan Mir)
While this list represents goals I strive for, I often don’t achieve them. Turning guidelines into reality is challenging. They require financial resources and time investments that I don’t always have. They also require institutions to recognize new measures of success for retention and promotion.
I don’t have answers for how to juggle all these principles at once. But as academia mourns the lack of diversity and mental support in research, I also think that we need to rethink the research lab models we experienced when we received our doctorates. We need to create new, inclusive research models, and we need to begin with our undergraduate students.
I am an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Bucknell University, a liberal arts university in central Pennsylvania. You can learn more about me on my website or on Twitter. I’d also love to hear what your guiding principles are for research, so please don’t hesitate to contact me.
