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Graduate Student Perspectives on Success and Belonging in Graduate Education
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Graduate Students often juggle competing priorities, which can make it challenging to thrive in graduate school. On November 10, 2025, the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Education created space during the second annual Graduate Education Summit for current graduate students to candidly discuss how they balance their responsibilities holistically and define success by their own terms. This story builds on conversations from that panel and follow-up interviews with the graduate students featured.
The interactive panel featured a diverse group of graduate students who reflected on themes of success, belonging, and balance. The discussion was facilitated by Vibhuti Dahiya, a master’s student in the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School of Public Policy, who opened the conversation by inviting panelists to share their personal definitions of success. The panelists overwhelmingly emphasized that their perspectives have shifted away from traditional academic milestones, such as publications, tenure-track positions, and grades. Taking charge of their academic paths led panelists to experience greater professional clarity and personal fulfillment at Georgia Tech.
For example, Ejaz Ahmed, a Ph.D. student in the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School of Public Policy, shared:
I realized success couldn’t just be about outcomes. It had to include well-being and meaningful growth. Today, I see success as alignment: aligning what I do with what matters to me.
Kali Kater, a Ph.D. student in Ocean Science and Engineering, also shared:
In grad school, I began to realize how defining success through productivity or outcomes was unsustainable. I now see success as mostly intrinsic. I have shifted my focus to center how I feel, rather than what others may think.
Moving away from traditional scripts of academic achievement led the panelists to highlight belonging as a critical metric of their campus experience. For Ahmed:
The policies, structures, and everyday interactions that define graduate life either reinforce belonging or quietly erode it. A small act of acknowledgment, such as a check-in or an affirmation that struggle is normal, can make an enormous difference in retention, morale, and feeling valued as whole people.
When asked if panelists had practical tips for improving graduate student connection and belonging, Isabel Boyd, a Ph.D. student in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, shared:
It takes a lot of intention, initiative, and effort to get and stay involved. Anything that lowers this barrier helps. Creating space for graduate students to connect with faculty and staff in a relaxed environment helps.
International data shows that maintaining a healthy work-life balance and protecting mental health are among graduate students’ greatest challenges. Addressing this will require more than individual resiliency; it calls for rethinking the everyday norms and expectations of graduate life.
This story was written by Vibhuti Dahiya, a master’s student in the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School of Public Policy, with support from Belonging & Student Support.
Summary
Through candid dialogue during a panel session at the Graduate Education Summit, Georgia Tech graduate students challenged traditional definitions of academic success and highlighted belonging and well-being as essential measures of the graduate experience.
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- Workflow status: Published
- Created by: Brittani Hill
- Created: 02/13/2026
- Modified By: Brittani Hill
- Modified: 02/13/2026
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