Student development theories offer frameworks for better understanding and enhancing the experiences of graduate and professional students.

Explores how the understanding of graduate students' special needs and circumstances enhances counseling of this population. Looks at stress factors, educational preparation, delayed gratification, achieving autonomy, intellectual development, and the counseling process. Emphasizes the importance of establishing trust in the therapeutic dialog so…

Considers the various roles that a faculty advisers plays in the three identified stages of a student's graduate education: beginning, middle, and the dissertation stage. Looks at each stage as a process of educational and developmental change. Focuses on faculty sponsorship, peers, financial assistance, intellectual interests, comprehensive…

Argues that multicultural coursework, pedagogy, and support services, which honor diverse needs and voices, can enhance the environment for graduate students of color. Examines problems faced by students of color; ways to bolster recruitment, retention, and support programs; faculty-student interaction; classroom interaction; professional…

This chapter sets a context for the use of student development theory in student affairs work, summarizes several prominent theories, and offers examples of how the entertainment media can be used to facilitate understanding of these theories by both graduate and undergraduate students.