Graduate Diversity Officers and Efforts to Retain Students of Color

This qualitative study explores how 14 institutional agents (graduate diversity officers or GDOs) work towards improving retention for graduate students of Color. Consistent with Lovitt’s framework of graduate student retention, findings reveal GDOs implement diverse strategies that promote opportunities for academic integration, social integration, and the development of cognitive maps. GDOs’ effectiveness was challenged by limited financial and institutional support, as well as the campus and departmental climate, limiting efforts to promote academic integration.