[Formatting oddities were in the original —traci]
Hello,
My name is Gabriella Wilson (she/her). I am a doctoral student at Syracuse University in the Composition and Cultural Rhetoric program. I am writing to recruit participants for my (roughly titled) study, “Disabling Structures: Graduate Students and Disability.” I am hoping to gather as many responses as possible to my survey to best attempt to understand how disability impacts graduate students in the field of rhetoric and composition. So, I hope that graduate students in the field will consider taking the time to respond to my survey. Additional information regarding the study can be found here: https://gawilson0.wixsite.com/gabriella-wilson.
My study is interested in considering the cultural expectations in rhetoric and composition graduate programs and how those expectations shape disabled graduate students’ experiences. I’m particularly invested in how disability and ableism impact how graduate students construct their professional and scholarly identity in the discipline, as a disabled graduate student myself. Graduate students are an understudied and often neglected population. So, this study hopes to lend insight into ableism in graduate education and how graduate programs can better create a culture of access in their programs. The research questions driving this study are as follows:
1. How do cultural expectations and discursive notions of productivity, efficiency, and ability impact disabled graduate students’ identity construction as they negotiate liminal spaces between teaching, research, and community?
2. How can listening to the ways that disabled graduate students practice resistance lead to structural recommendations for graduate programs that prioritize collective care and the development of a culture of access?
Eligible participants of this study will be:
- 18 years or older
- Currently enrolled as a graduate student in a rhetoric and composition program or track in the United States
- Have a computer and working internet access to Zoom
This survey should take about 30 minutes to complete. The survey link will be live until 11:59 pm ET on February 12, 2024 so you may consent and participate anytime within that time frame. At the end of the survey, you will be able to indicate if you are interested in participating in a 60-minute remote interview via Zoom. To be eligible for the interview portion of this study, you must have access to Zoom and consent to being audio- and video-recorded.
Participants who are asked to interview for the study will be compensated for their time and labor with a $5 Amazon gift card.
Here is a link to the survey. If this link does not work, please copy and paste this link into your browser: https://syracuseuniversity.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_55rtnpL0SCjkIqa.
The informed consent form, which provides information about the study and your participation, appears on the opening page of the survey. I’ve also attached a PDF copy of the informed consent form to this email so you can download and save a copy for your records.
Thank you for considering participating in this research study. I welcome any questions about this study or the survey via email at gawilson.
Sincerely,
Gabriella Wilson
Gabriella Wilson
(Pronouns: she/her/hers)
PhD Student | Composition and Cultural Rhetoric
Syracuse University