13: From Outsiders to Insiders

Abstract

We assess graduate assistant competency in key skills that employers in and outside of academia value and examine whether these skills are developed in the context of the graduate assistantship (GA) at a specific state comprehensive university. The GAs in our sample rate themselves as competent or very competent on all skills and report their GA experience somewhat influenced or influenced their skill competencies. Furthermore, perception of how one's graduate assistantship influenced skill competency was significantly associated with perceived skill competency level. Based on these findings, we discuss distinct gaps that could be addressed to facilitate GA development at state comprehensive universities.

“It’s Hidden, After All:” A Modified Delphi Study Exploring Faculty and Students’ Perceptions of a Graduate Professional Seminar in Communication

“…Topics that fall under the Dunning-Kruger effect are sometimes called "unknown unknowns" and refer to "actions that are essential to attain success that the person does not know about" or "contingencies that one should prepare for if one were forewarned" (Dunning, 2011, p. 253). Brennan et al (2013) conducted a survey of graduate students about the perceived non-discipline-specific skills they developed in an assistantship program. The authors found that, although students overestimated their skills in almost every area, they still indicated that their faculty mentors played an important part in helping them to develop transferrable skills.…”