Policy Recommendations from the CARL funded study entitled Margins: Lessons learned from the lived experiences of marginalized graduate students navigating the academy during the COVID-19 pandemic

Our CARL-funded research project aimed to understand how marginalized graduate students at our institutions adapted to the pandemic situation, particularly in their research activities, with the goal of providing recommendations on policy enhancements to create more inclusive research environments. The focus of our presentation would be on discussing lessons learned from the study, and the resulting policy recommendations. 

The COVID-19 pandemic brought many challenges to the education sector and highlighted the barriers users experienced while accessing educational and research resources. In libraries, the impact of the pandemic was felt in the form of limited access to physical library collections, personnel, technology and spaces. Although many libraries implemented new or different forms of service and support, during the initial uncertain times of the pandemic, users had to contend with the closure of physical spaces, suspension of access to physical collections, and a lack of in-person services. In particular, marginalized students experienced these barriers in unique ways compared to the experiences of mainstream library users. Knowing marginalized students’ challenges and coping strategies will help the collective library community understand and reduce these barriers, for the benefit of all library users. 

The three participating institutions are University of Saskatchewan, Toronto Metropolitan University and the University of Victoria. For this study, we adopted the National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health definition of marginalized populations as “groups and communities that experience discrimination and exclusion (social, political and economic) because of unequal power relationships across economic, political, social and cultural dimensions”. 

A phenomenological approach was used to understand and capture the lived experiences of marginalized students, and a screening survey identified a range of eligible students willing to participate in focus groups. From our data analysis, we identified a number of policy recommendations for the academic library community to consider.  

As we move into a post-pandemic landscape, it is important that the academic library sector learn from the experiences and challenges of marginalized students. The evidence demonstrates that many services and approaches created during the pandemic benefited all our users, and can be implemented by libraries going forward. Our study results affirm the value of library spaces, resources, and expertise which were challenging to access early in the pandemic. This presentation will highlight what actions and policy enhancements audience members can advocate for in their libraries to create more inclusive and equitable research environments. 
 

Slides: tinyurl.com/4ut7vhv4
Research Brief Infographic: https://tinyurl.com/4aw5kwf2
Recording: https://youtu.be/jwaERn9clXk