A Longitudinal Investigation of International Graduate Students’ First-Year Experiences in U.S. Engineering Programs

Kyeonghun Jwa; Catherine G. P. Berdanier

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Conference: 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Portland, Oregon
Publication Date: June 23, 2024
Start Date: June 23, 2024
End Date: July 12, 2024
Conference Session: Educational Research and Methods Division (ERM) Technical Session 4
Tagged Division: Educational Research and Methods Division (ERM)
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/46451

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Paper Authors

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Kyeonghun Jwa Pennsylvania State University orcid.org/0000-0002-1323-2631

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Kyeonghun Jwa is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at The Pennsylvania State University. His research uses mixed methods techniques to investigate doctoral engineering attrition and to investigate international students’ academic literacy and adjustment experiences in the U.S. He earned his Bachelor’s degree and Master’s degree in Mechanical & Automotive Engineering from the University of Ulsan in South Korea. In his Master’s work, he investigated autoignition characteristics for alternative fuels. Prior to attending Penn State, He served as a visiting scholar of Engine Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to study the effect of various injection methods on gasoline compression ignition combustion.

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Catherine G. P. Berdanier Pennsylvania State University orcid.org/0000-0003-3271-4836

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Catherine G.P. Berdanier is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Pennsylvania State University. She earned her B.S. in Chemistry from The University of South Dakota, her M.S. in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering and her PhD in Engineering Education from Purdue University. Her research expertise lies in characterizing graduate-level attrition, persistence, and career trajectories; engineering writing and communication; and methodological development.

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Abstract

The purpose of this full research paper is to explore international engineering graduate students’ experiences in U.S. graduate programs through one year of short message service (SMS) (i.e., text message) survey data. Although international graduate students constitute a high proportion of engineering students in U.S. higher education contexts, there are few studies that specifically center them to contextualize their experiences. International graduate students experience unique challenges, such as acculturation, isolation, and Visa status, that impact attrition and student well-being. Previous studies are mainly focused on acculturation or language problems for students across disciplines. For engineering disciplines, the expectation of English language proficiency is different than other majors like humanities, and engineering students may rely on mathematical and experimental data more heavily than English proficiency to perform well in their research. Therefore, understanding how international graduate students reflect on their experiences highlights their uniqueness within engineering contexts, separating them from the other disciplines of international students. The first year of graduate school is a pivotal period for international graduate students with regard to adapting to a new culture and norms. As part of a larger, NSF-funded study on graduate-level attrition, persistence, and graduate student experiences, we used SMS surveys to follow n = 19 first-year international engineering PhD students from October 31, 2022, to October 27, 2023, surveying them three times per week. This paper offers a novel view of students, presenting a year’s worth of time series results with a population, first-year PhD international engineering students, that are not typically studied. Findings indicate that although first-year international students rarely considered leaving their programs, nor reflected that their stress related to school or life was overwhelming, their data show decreasing trends in the areas of satisfaction with advisor relationships, support networks, cost, goals, and quality of life and work. Together, these results imply that students’ acclimation process to graduate school in the U.S. is perhaps not happening innately. Further, our findings suggest future research should explore the variations between international students from different countries as they have different cultural backgrounds that may contribute to or influence their experiences.

Citation
Format

Jwa, K., & Berdanier, C. G. P. (2024, June), A Longitudinal Investigation of International Graduate Students’ First-Year Experiences in U.S. Engineering Programs Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/46451

TY - CPAPER
AB - The purpose of this full research paper is to explore international engineering graduate students’ experiences in U.S. graduate programs through one year of short message service (SMS) (i.e., text message) survey data. Although international graduate students constitute a high proportion of engineering students in U.S. higher education contexts, there are few studies that specifically center them to contextualize their experiences. International graduate students experience unique challenges, such as acculturation, isolation, and Visa status, that impact attrition and student well-being. Previous studies are mainly focused on acculturation or language problems for students across disciplines. For engineering disciplines, the expectation of English language proficiency is different than other majors like humanities, and engineering students may rely on mathematical and experimental data more heavily than English proficiency to perform well in their research. Therefore, understanding how international graduate students reflect on their experiences highlights their uniqueness within engineering contexts, separating them from the other disciplines of international students. The first year of graduate school is a pivotal period for international graduate students with regard to adapting to a new culture and norms. As part of a larger, NSF-funded study on graduate-level attrition, persistence, and graduate student experiences, we used SMS surveys to follow n = 19 first-year international engineering PhD students from October 31, 2022, to October 27, 2023, surveying them three times per week. This paper offers a novel view of students, presenting a year’s worth of time series results with a population, first-year PhD international engineering students, that are not typically studied. Findings indicate that although first-year international students rarely considered leaving their programs, nor reflected that their stress related to school or life was overwhelming, their data show decreasing trends in the areas of satisfaction with advisor relationships, support networks, cost, goals, and quality of life and work. Together, these results imply that students’ acclimation process to graduate school in the U.S. is perhaps not happening innately. Further, our findings suggest future research should explore the variations between international students from different countries as they have different cultural backgrounds that may contribute to or influence their experiences.
AU - Kyeonghun Jwa
AU - Catherine G. P. Berdanier
CY - Portland, Oregon
DA - 2024/06/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - A Longitudinal Investigation of International Graduate Students’ First-Year Experiences in U.S. Engineering Programs
UR - https://peer.asee.org/46451
ER -