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Objective: Identify the role(s) and support(s), if any, that family members provide to first-generation and historically marginalized doctoral students, including strengths and challenges of this support. Background: Nonfinancial family support is important for the success and retention of first-generation and historically marginalized graduate students. More empirical studies of the role(s) and support of family members of these doctoral students are needed. Method: During an intervention designed for firstgeneration and historically marginalized doctoral students and their families, we conducted four focus groups with doctoral students (n = 22) and three focus groups with the family members they chose to accompany them (n = 15). Transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: Two themes emerged from the data: support and connection. In addition to providing distinct types of support, families play both supportive and connective roles. There are challenges to family roles and support in areas such as communication, doctoral student stress, and different ways that family members and doctoral students think about and approach life. Conclusion: The study provided key insights to understanding the roles and support of family of doctoral students; more efforts are needed across graduate schools in the United States. Implications: Family science faculty and graduate schools may collaborate to provide meaningful interventions for graduate students and their families for the goal of promoting graduate student retention and success. 

Objective: The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences of historically underrepresented graduate students, more than half of whom were enrolled in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, during the COVID-19 pandemic. This focus group study represents an initial stage in developing an intervention for historically underrepresented graduate students and their families. Background: Underrepresentation of graduate students of color in STEM has been attributed to a myriad of factors, including a lack of support systems. Familial support is an endorsed reason for persisting in graduate school. It is unclear what historically underrepresented graduate students’ experiences are during uncertain times, such as a pandemic. Method: Focus groups were conducted online using a videoconferencing platform during the COVID-19 pandemic. Five focus groups included: historically underrepresented doctoral students (n =5), historically underrepresented master’s students (n = 6), academic faculty (n = 7), administrator, administrative faculty, and academic faculty (n = 6), and families of historically underrepresented doctoral students (n = 6). Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: Historically underrepresented graduate students experienced difficulties in accessing resources, adjustments to home and family life, amplification of existing nonfinancial issues, and expressed both fears of and hopes for the future. Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated existing inequalities in access to resources as well as nonfinancial family support. Implications: This study may help normalize historically underrepresented graduate students’ experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings include ideas for informing families about graduate school that can enlighten family support efforts for historically underrepresented graduate students and their families.