Navigating Tensions of Research and Teaching: Biology Graduate Students’ Perceptions of the Research–Teaching Nexus within Ecological Contexts

Graduate students represent both a significant component of the instructional team for biology departments as well as being students themselves learning to become academics. However, little is known about how biology graduate students perceive the relationships among their academic roles, particularly research and teaching. The present study used a cross-sectional survey to elicit the perceptions biology graduate students hold about the relationship between research and teaching. This work is an important first step in understanding the socialization processes of graduate students. Findings indicated that the majority of biology graduate students (65.5% of n = 255) hold synergistic perceptions of research and teaching. This is in spite of the mixed messages that biology graduate students hear about this relationship, including both “Teaching detracts from research” and “Teaching supports research.” Findings from this study have implications for multiple stakeholders in graduate education, including professional developers who need to be cognizant of the messages that are received and internalized by biology graduate students while engaged in professional development opportunities. Results also suggest that work is needed to address how messages are prioritized and internalized during graduate school.