The growth of graduate studies in Brazil and the increased demand of graduate students for career interventions amplified the interest in understanding the choices, expectations and difficulties of these students. This literature review describes studies published in the last 20 years focusing on graduate students in order to understand the main subjects investigated and also identify new areas for future research. After a search in databases (SCIELO, BDTD, LILACS and BVS), 35 identified publications were analyzed. There was a greater concentration of publications in the health field, a balance between qualitative and quantitative studies, and a main focus on students’ evaluation of teaching and learning processes in graduate school. There is a need for studies to investigate the career development and academic adaptation of graduate students. Besides, due to course specificity, there is a need for a greater diversity of covered areas in future investigations.