A Field Guide to Grad School: Uncovering the Hidden Curriculum (Skills for Scholars) by Jessica McCrory Calarco

A Field Guide to Grad School: Uncovering the Hidden Curriculum (Skills for Scholars) Reviews

• 
  Johannah

  literally the most helpful guide I have found relating to graduate school–I wish it had been published before I applied, but I will refer to it often as I advance in my grad school career.
• 
  Adora

  bless this author, seriously
  
  This book is helpful from a "how to" perspective; it's also a riveting commentary on how much of academia is premised on exclusion. I appreciated Calarco's call to deans, professors, department chairs and others with the power to change things to "uncover the hidden curriculum for their students."
• 
  Annas Jiwa Pratama

  This book succeeds on two fronts. It is a very useful and practical guide to grad school, and arguably academia in general. It is also an honest and incisive commentary on the cult(ure) of academia. In short, this book is an excellent practical and critical combo.
  
  In terms of practicality, the book does well in thoroughly walking you through the steps you will likely take as a grad student, from articulating what you actually want out of grad school and into the business of publishing and teaching, as well as getting into the job market. Each of these steps are covered in detail, even going into very specific (but actually very helpful) things like email templates, spreadsheet outlines, and CV examples. Though it is centered on grad students, I’m sure a lot of the things discussed are quite relevant for early career academics as well as anyone making a living off that system. I’m currently more or less a freelance RA, so I do a lot of grant application writing, and I found her chapter on it to be very helpful. However, some of its recommendations are highly US-centric, especially when it comes to the funding models, types of programs, etc. If you plan on/are doing your grad studies elsewhere, you might have to do a lot of your own digging.
  
  What I appreciate the most however, is how honest and critical it is of academia. The book balances its goal of helping individuals succeed while criticizing the inequality and systemic exploitation that are so deeply ingrained within academia. For example, in the chapter on research and funding, Calarco acknowledges the need for grad students to churn out publications, while commenting that ultimately this culture and demand is harmful to students, faculties, and to the discipline itself. I think this makes both her practical suggestions more tempered, and her critiques more nuanced and readily accepted from people at the bottom of the rung, people with the least job security and those who struggle the most with these demands.
  
  All that said, I’m not really sure whether I feel encouraged or discouraged to pursue a PhD and an academic career after reading the book. I mean, it really does reinforce my own rather negative view of academia (that it is a scam and a cult) lol.
  
  Tangents
  
  Did not expect this book to have me marking quotes, but here are some excellent ones:
  “Academia works (or at least should work) on a pay-it-forward model. Your faculty mentors help you today. And then when you’re successful tomorrow, you help those who come after you.”
  
  ”That’s why it’s important to know when enough is enough. And that’s why it’s important to start your project with a good research design. Because a well-designed project makes it clear when enough is enough. You’ll have a sense up front of what questions you’re trying to answer. And once you have the data necessary to answer those questions (and rule out alternative answers), you’re done.
  (this one hits a personal nerve because I goddamn hate it when people add shit to the design without knowing what to do with the data afterwards. You’re making the research gaudy!)
  
  “When grad school’s hidden curriculum stays hidden, those inequalities get amplified, and their source stays hidden too. Essentially, the hiddenness of the hidden curriculum makes it seem as though the people who win in grad school are just “better suited” to play the game.”
• 
  Katherine Stevick

  I guess we'll see how helpful this actually was when I start classes come fall--but it felt very helpful, and makes me feel like I'm going in with my eyes open. I think this would also be a great read for someone who is considering grad school and not sure if it would be a good fit.
• 
  Nathan Sexten

  An absolute must-read for anyone pursuing a graduate degree.
• 
  Jean-Marie

  I purchased this book for my dual enrolled high school undergrad who promptly developed an eye twitch and broke out in hives at the sight of it. So as the household librarian who always tries to find the right read or reference material for the appropriate circumstance, I decided to give this one a first read myself. I know the title targets grad students, but this is an excellent resource for undergrads who are interested in research and aspire to attend grad school in the near future. In particular, the chapters about building a support team of mentors and peers, reading and writing about other people’s research, and doing — from funding to publishing and promoting — your own research are all very relevant to the undergrad research experience. (And as a former publicist and corporate communications professional, I feel qualified enough to say the suggestions for promoting your work and positioning yourself as a reliable expert in the field check out.) The rest of the book can help you determine what comes next — jobs, teaching, work-life balance. Waiting until you are in grad school to read this almost seems too late. At the very least it’s a great book to skim through, bookmark, and add to your personal library for future reference when you need insight, guidance, or inspiration on your academic journey through higher ed.
• 
  Kayse Maass

  I wish a book like this existed when I was in grad school. In 2021, my research lab read one chapter a month and discussed it together— highly recommend as a way for faculty to talk to students about these important things about academia that are usually never formally taught. Although the author isn’t an engineer (our field), she does a great job of explaining where some topics may differ from field to field, such as which outlets you should try to publish in, the normalcy of grants, etc. Reading this together as a lab really helped so that I could highlight the things that were most important within our field and explain where some of the content made differ from how our specialty field does things. I particularly appreciated the author’s perspective around how race, gender, sexuality and sociology-economic backgrounds affect the way that we move through academia.
• 
  Morgane Golan

  I haven't notated up a book like this since I was in high school! All jokes aside, this is the most valuable book I've read on the subject of grad school, and also the most up-to-date. I will certainly be coming back to this book many times over the next few years.
• 
  Alexa

  A must read for any graduate student!
  
  If you’ve felt alone at any point of your graduate journey, pick this up and feel welcome to the community!
• 
  Priscila Drummond

  Great resource for someone planning on going to grad school or for those who are already in.
  
• 
  João Vítor

  Great perspective of what the academic field looks like!
• 
  Emma Ann

  A useful guide to hidden “norms” in academia, full of how-tos for navigating the culture (including email templates!).
• 
  haniya

  2.5*
• 
  Kim

  I hope at some point in the future, a book like this is not needed because the “hidden curriculum” is either transparent and/or dismantled. But until then, this is an indispensable guide.
• 
  Heather Hoyt

  This was fine, but almost too generalized to be super helpful.
• 
  Zane Billings

  This book was good enough that my anxiety about being unexployed after I finish my degree might go away for a month or two.
• 
  Haleigh

  I could have saved myself a lot of time and missed steps if I had a resource like this when I started my PhD program. Would recommend to anyone who is considering applying to a doctoral program or still within their first year, especially if you aren't coming from a research-based masters.
  
  So much of what is expected of students in a PhD program is never explicitly stated or explained. When I was preparing to start my program, I assumed that I would be going to school to learn how to do the types of research, write the types of papers, give the types of talks, etc. that make up a doctorate. It became clear to me pretty immediately that just in getting accepted, I was expected to already know how to do all of those things, and there wouldn't be much guidance. I managed to piece things together by trial and error, but I do wish that I had a clearer idea from the beginning of what those expectations were and how to meet them.