The entry of more "non-traditional" students into graduate social psychology programs brings varied life experiences into the field. Women in particular bring different experiences than those conventionally assumed by the academy. Research shows that many women who have succeeded in higher education did so by adopting "separate" knowing, which approaches knowledge as something that can be objectified and reduced to understandable parts. By contrast, "connected knowing" involves making sense of reality by examining experience in the context of relationships. Connected knowers often feel estranged from the academic world. Women's ways of being are strange to academia. Women often make their thinking public early in the process of forming ideas, and tend to view knowledge as dynamic, and use more tentative, less authoritative speech. Women are quick to assume collective knowledge, which can minimize any unique knowledge they may possess. While women are in the majority in graduate programs, they are less likely than men to pursue academic careers. Trainers must be aware of policies, practices, and curricula that may systematically exclude many qualified students and faculty from program participation. A number of options for addressing these circumstances are available. (SG)