transparentinstitutional action to enhance diversity and promote inclusive and equitable learningenvironments” [2, p.3]. Despite this growing attention and acknowledgment of the need toimprove graduate education in engineering, cultures and practices in these spaces are seldomcharacterized as welcoming. In response to the above calls, this study explores the engineering graduate student’sexperience, focusing on their perceived stressors or challenges, while considering the student’sdegree and citizenship status. This study is situated in a three-year effort to develop andimplement a mandatory graduate seminar course focused on promoting equity in STEM at anR1, research-intensive university in the Mid-Atlantic U.S. The following sections will