Weaving Networks & Empowering Space(s): Reflections on the Inaugural Women in Pacific Studies (WiPS) Graduate Student Cohort, UH Mānoa

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many graduate students—women, and women of color in particular—have lost access to essential student support services, research sites, occasions for networking and collaboration, and professionalization opportunities (Misra 2021, Mooi-Reci 2021, Reese 2021). With most graduate seminars and professor office hours still being held over Zoom, students have also lost out on opportunities to engage in more informal, but also essential, brainstorming, chat sessions, and social engagements that typically take place during breaks or after class over a coffee or lunch. These kinds of occasions, both formal and informal, allow young scholars to share ideas about their research, exchange information about upcoming conferences, brainstorm paper topics, give feedback on one another’s job applications, provide one another with general emotional and social support, and much more.

In Spring 2022, we launched a pilot academic and professionalization cohort for women graduate students at UH Mānoa with research interests in the Pacific Islands region, prioritizing Indigenous women and women of color. The eleven-member cohort has developed an online working and support space for women students pursuing graduate degrees at UH Mānoa to set and accomplish academic goals; network with other women academics; share resources and opportunities; build professional and leadership skills; and complete a project deliverable such as a conference presentation, a paper for submission to a peer-reviewed journal, a dissertation proposal, a thesis or dissertation chapter, a grant application, a job application packet, or some other tangible product that will help advance each student’s academic and professional objectives.

Co-instructors Monica LaBriola and Terava Casey will briefly explain how and why they developed the online cohort; its activities and accomplishments thus far; and plans for the future.