Sruthi Swami graduated with a Ph.D. with an emphasis in school psychology from the Department of Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology. She will be moving next to California State University, Fresno, where she has accepted a tenure-track position as an Assistant Professor in the School Psychology Master’s program.
GGSE: What are your research interests, and why are they important to you?
Swami: My research interests are focused on facilitating equity in systems that serve youth and their families. As my specialization is in school psychology, the bulk of my work is related to creating positive and safe school systems. To that end, I worked with Dr. Jill Sharkey, one of my mentors, and my advisor, Dr. Matt Quirk, on numerous projects related to racial and ethnic disparities experienced by African American/Black and Hispanic/Latinx youths in school discipline systems, in the school-to-prison pipeline, and as it relates to the achievement gap. We were able to give concrete recommendations to schools, the sheriff's department, and [the Santa Barbara County Department of] Behavioral Wellness on what they could do to improve outcomes for their students and families.
GGSE: Tell us about your dissertation.
Swami: My dissertation was focused on the perceived racist and discriminatory experiences of Asian American high school students from their peers and teachers. This project was personally meaningful given that I identify as Asian American, a population that is super diverse and often overlooked in research. This work is really important to me as it not only helped me understand my own privilege, but it also helped me understand that we all have power that we should use to dismantle oppressive systems in the world. We all need to support each other!
GGSE: What's one piece of information you wish every person knew and remembered about your research?
Swami: I was told by someone early on in grad school that it didn't matter what group (e.g. race/ethnicity, gender, sexuality, etc.) I studied as long as I knew the core subject matter. I whole-heartedly disagree with that statement because something like motivation for school will look so different depending on a group's history and experiences. We cannot say that Asian Americans and Latinx Americans, for example, experience motivation for school in the same way, as their contexts, historical treatment in school, and experiences of oppression and privilege are fundamentally different. Context and history matter, and we have a duty to inform ourselves in these matters.
GGSE: Tell us about your internship. How was it affected by COVID-19?
Swami: My internship is with the Dallas Independent School District (DISD) in Dallas, Texas. I provide mental health services directly in schools, and I also work at the Youth and Family Centers, which are family therapy clinics attached to the schools. Once the pandemic hit, we were quickly forced to switch all of our services to telehealth, meaning doing therapy online (video) or over the phone. On one hand, this was a huge learning opportunity as we were not trained to provide services this way. On the other hand, many students and their families don't have access to reliable internet, phone services, computers, tablets, etc., which meant that I could no longer provide services for a large proportion of them. Additionally, therapy in schools provides relief to many families who would otherwise have a tough time with transportation to clinics or even do not have health care. Not having therapy in schools meant that even more kids were no longer receiving any kind of service at all. So, it's been really tough, but we've all come together as a team to support our kids’ and their families' needs.
GGSE: What do you hope to do after earning your Ph.D.?
Swami: I feel super fortunate and grateful to be starting a position as an Assistant Professor at Fresno State in their Psychology Department, specifically for their School Psychology Master's program. I have worked with school psychologists who have come out of that program and they are amazing, so I'm excited to be a part of that program. My ultimate career goal is to be in academia where I can contribute directly to the training of future clinicians, mentor students, and continue to engage in school and community-based research that addresses disparities and inequities.
GGSE: What piece of advice would you pass on to future students in the Gevirtz School?
Swami: Set boundaries early on in terms of when you will do work and when you won't, or what projects you take on and what you say no to. It's really easy to forget that we have lives outside of grad school, so I would say, be clear with yourself and people around you on what your boundaries, and therefore, your priorities are. This also means keep the people who give you life around you. You do not need to hang out with or even like everyone you come in contact with. Keep those energy vampires away!
GGSE: Is there anyone in the Gevirtz School you would like to thank?
Swami: There are so many people! Definitely Matt Quirk (my advisor), Jill Sharkey (mentor), Chunyan Yang (dissertation committee member who is now at UC Berkeley), and all the friends I've made in grad school along the way (in my lab, my cohort, the program, and across departments). Honestly, everyone who graciously gave up time to talk to me about personal or professional things, I appreciate you!
GGSE: What is one of your favorite memories of your graduate school experience?
Swami: There are too many! I would say hanging out with my cohort including our power outage serenade experience at Reds, running into our professors on Bourbon Street at NASP during Mardi Gras (shout-out to Katie, Kelly, and Ari), the third-year research festival, being rudely interrupted by politician bros during lunchtime in IV and yelling at them (shout-out to Ana and Sabrina), Funk Zone (days and nights), dancing our time away at O'Malleys and Wild Cat (both poor choices), and going to grad division events for the free food are some of the highlights.
GGSE: In lieu of an in-person ceremony, how did you celebrate your graduation?
Swami: My internship training director had a really sweet video that she made for all of us interns and gave us a speech; CCSP put together a lovely Zoom graduation ceremony in which we were all able to say a few words about our journey and give thanks/gratitude to people; and my family threw me a socially distancing grad party in which my mom and aunt, both of whom have Ph.D.s, pretended to hood me with a blanket. It was so cute and heartfelt!