Removing Barriers to Graduate Student Success Part II: Graduate Education is Full of Hidden Curricula

When people think about graduate education, they usually think about coursework, research, comprehensive exams, dissertations, and publications. Those are the visible parts of graduate school. But there is another curriculum operating underneath all of it.

The hidden curriculum (coined by Philip W. Jackson in the 1960s) consists of the unwritten rules, assumptions, and norms that shape who succeeds, who struggles, and who feels like they belong in academia. Some students arrive already fluent in these rules. Others have to learn them through trial and error, often at considerable personal and professional cost. Graduate school does not simply test intelligence or work ethic. It often tests whether students understand how academia works.

No one formally teaches students things like:

• How often should you meet with your advisor?
• Is it acceptable to ask faculty to nominate you for awards?
• What exactly happens at academic conferences?
• Can I call my professors/advisors by their first name?
• How important is networking?
• How do you join a research team?
• What counts as “professionalism” in graduate school?
• When should you advocate for yourself and when should you stay quiet?
• How do you build relationships with faculty without feeling intrusive?

Yet the answers to these questions can significantly shape a student’s trajectory. Office hours are a good example. Faculty often encourage students to come by, but many students—particularly first-generation students—interpret office hours differently. Some assume office hours are for undergraduate students, or for students in crisis, or students who already know exactly what to ask. Others may feel they are “bothering” faculty members by attending. Meanwhile, students who grew up around higher education often understand office hours as a place to build relationships, ask informal questions, and become visible to faculty mentors.

Conference culture is another hidden curriculum. Experienced students know conferences are not just about presenting papers. They are about meeting future collaborators, learning disciplinary norms, finding mentors, and entering professional networks. But for students unfamiliar with academic culture, conferences can feel bewildering and isolating. Even knowing basics—how to introduce yourself, when networking happens, whether it is acceptable to approach senior scholars—may not be obvious.

Advisor relationships may be the most important hidden curriculum of all. Graduate education often depends heavily on mentorship, yet expectations around advising are rarely explicit. Some students know they should proactively schedule meetings, request feedback, discuss career goals, and seek opportunities. Others assume that good work alone will naturally be recognized and rewarded.

International students frequently navigate an additional layer of hidden expectations. Academic norms vary widely across countries. What is considered respectful participation, appropriate disagreement, or professional communication in one culture may be interpreted differently in another. Even understanding how to advocate for oneself can require learning an entirely new set of cultural assumptions.

The same is true for first-generation graduate students. Many are simultaneously learning the content of graduate education and decoding the culture surrounding it. They may not have family members or mentors who can quietly explain how academic systems operate behind the scenes.

One of the most important things graduate faculty and administrators can do is make the hidden curriculum more visible. We can explain norms explicitly instead of assuming students will somehow absorb them. We can demystify conferences, advising relationships, publishing, networking, and professional expectations. We can normalize asking questions about things students feel they “should already know.”

Graduate students should not have to rely on accidental mentorship or social privilege to access information essential to their success. The more transparent we make graduate education, the more equitable it becomes.

This fall the Graduate School at the University of Memphis will be hosting a virtual event in our Mastering Graduate School Series on the hidden curriculum in graduate education. We will have a panel of faculty to help students navigate the nuances of different disciplines.

Here are some useful resources on the hidden curriculum:

• https://learning.nd.edu/news/navigating-the-hidden-curriculum/
• https://gsc.upenn.edu/uncovering-hidden-curriculum
• https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691201092/a-field-guide-to-grad-school?srsltid=AfmBOoqnpkfg5-PM0mNGaNcM3fGOsIjGwsUZAiUUOkcyzq9IjeSTIhHD

Would love to hear from students and colleagues on this topic. What things do you wish you knew before entering graduate school?

(And yes, the cat is totally click bait. If you are reading this, "Babka"--my grandcat--has earned her treats today!)

Note: I use artificial intelligence tools when I create content for these articles to help generate ideas, improve organization, and identify grammatical or stylistic issues. However, all final content is reviewed, revised, and personalized by me to ensure that it accurately reflects my experiences, perspectives, and individual voice.