“Well, what can I do?”: An examination of the role supervisors, peers and scientific societies can play in the multicultural student experience

• Published in: Placenta (Eastbourne) 2023-09, Vol.141, p.65-70
• Main Authors: Foteva, Vladimira, Fisher, Joshua J., Wyrwoll, Caitlin S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0143-4004; 1532-3102
• DOI: 10.1016/j.placenta.2023.06.005

International graduate students are a multi-cultural and diverse demographic of researchers that are integral to higher education globally. Although their contributions to research and innovation are acknowledged, the experiences of international students overseas are influenced by structural inequalities and challenges, some similar, and some unique to their domestic colleagues, that are often compounded by a “deficit narrative”. This paper was defined by the inaugural ‘Pressure Cooker’ workshop held at the Australian and New Zealand Placental Association (ANZPRA) conference in 2022, and discusses some of the major institutional and social structures that can define an international student's graduate degree trajectory. Further, we provide examples of collaborative programs and methods for academics, scientific societies and domestic graduate peer groups to promote an equitable and accessible environment for all researchers. •International graduate students form an integral demographic within academia.•The manuscript presents challenges & benefits of international tertiary education.•Complex interactions & inadvertent inequalities are present within research.•We aim to initiate a discord around the graduate narrative of student experience.•The manuscript provides initiatives to foster an equitable research environment.