Conference Session

Graduate Studies Division (GSD) Technical Session 4: Interdisciplinary Graduate Education

Collection

2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Susan Wainscott, University of Nevada, Las Vegas; Dustin B. Thoman, San Diego State University; Satchi Venkataraman, San Diego State University

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies Division (GSD)

. Copeland, R. Hopson, T. Simmons, and M. J. Leibowitz, “The role of professional identity in graduate school success for under‐represented minority students,” Biochem. Mol. Biol. Educ., vol. 41, no. 2, pp. 70–75, Mar. 2013, doi: 10.1002/bmb.20673.[4] A. Wierzbicka, “A case study of emotion in culture: German Angst,” 1999, pp. 123–167. doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511521256.003.[5] E. H. Erikson, Identity, youth, and crisis, [1st ed.]. New York: New York : W. W. Norton, 1968. [Online]. Available: https://unlv-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/ovttgp/01UNLV_ALMA21171117 830004081[6] M. P. Orbe, “Theorizing multidimensional identity negotiation: Reflections on the lived experiences of first-generation college students,” New

Conference Session

GSD 2: Identity and Motivation

Collection

2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gouri Vinod, Cornell University; Allison Godwin, Cornell University; Trevor Franklin, University of Colorado Boulder

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies Division (GSD)

, identity, in thissense, is shaped by their interactions and the social structures of which they are a part [8].By exploring the graduate students’ identities and motivations, which are not fixed, as Tsugawa[9] argued, researchers can learn more about graduate students' experiences to foster morestudent-centered graduate programs [9]. Previous research also highlighted the importance ofidentity in engineering education and research. Godwin [10] developed a measure of engineeringidentity, emphasizing its role in student success for undergraduate students, and highlighted howengineering identity had been shown as an indicator of educational and professional persistencein previous studies [11], [12], [13], [14]. Similarly, Litzler and Young [15] found

Conference Session

Graduate Studies Division (GSD) Technical Session 7: Developing Graduate Students' Competencies and Identities

Collection

2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Margaret E.B. Webb, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; Marie C. Paretti, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies Division (GSD)

scholars because of conflictingacademic structures. As a result, we pose the following research questions: 1. How do individual, microsystem, and mesosystem-level influences in a students’ academic environment affect graduate students’ abilities to develop a strong sense of interdisciplinary scholar identity, critical to self-efficacy and professional development, as they become professors in interdisciplinary spaces? 2. What are graduate students’ perceptions of the interrelationship between various layers of their academic environment (i.e., academic backgrounds and previous learning, microsystems, and mesosystems) and their interdisciplinary scholar professional identity development?Theoretical

Conference Session

Graduate Studies Division (GSD) Technical Session 7: Developing Graduate Students' Competencies and Identities

Collection

2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Julie M. Rieland, University of Michigan; Shamalee Goonetilleke, University of Michigan; Sarah Jane Bork, University of Michigan; Aaron W. Johnson, University of Michigan

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies Division (GSD)

disciplines [31], [32], there is anundeniable link between a students’ personal identities, institutional culture, the global politicalclimate, and their lived experience in graduate school [33]–[35]. For decades it has been knownthat there is a graduate student attrition problem [36], with 24-35% of domestic engineering PhDstudents prematurely leaving degree programs [37] and an even higher rate at 43% forunderrepresented groups like African American doctoral engineering students [38]. At the timeof writing this even, I consider the goodbye-party I will attend this evening for a studentprematurely leaving my partner’s research group.Beyond the degree completion stage, attrition in academia and STEM remains an issue, withonly 48.5% of all US PhD

Conference Session

GSD 3: Pedagogy and Curriculum

Collection

2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mary E. Besterfield-Sacre, University of Pittsburgh; April Dukes, University of Pittsburgh; Susan K Fullerton Shirey, University of Pittsburgh; Götz Veser, University of Pittsburgh

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies Division (GSD)

purposefully breaks the traditional three-credit coursework intomodular, stackable single-credit classes, building from fast-paced reviews of fundamentals over traditionalgraduate-level core content to graduate-level specialized content. This change provides a flexible andpersonalized learning experience, allowing students to customize their education to align with theirinterests.To create the modularized curriculum, we leveraged the collective expertise of our chemical engineeringfaculty and external subject matter experts (SMEs) from industry, government, academia, and start-ups.Starting with our existing course-specific learning objectives, we employed group concept mapping to (1)brainstorm additional graduate-level learning objectives, (2) group

Conference Session

Graduate Studies Division (GSD) Technical Session 7: Graduate Student Experiences

Collection

2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Crystal Alicia Nattoo, Stanford University; Crystal E Winston, Stanford University; Rachel A. G. Adenekan, Stanford University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies Division (GSD)

education 1 . As these traditionally cis-white male spaces are expanded, there are manyissues that have arisen due to the incongruence between who these spaces were designed for andwho now exists in these spaces. To assume that the system gives equal opportunity to all who makeit past admission would be naive and also contrary to what the literature has shown 3,4,5,6 . Under-represented minority groups (URMs), such as Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and Queer students, tendto have a different experience compared to their non-URM peers, often navigating extra barriersthat can affect graduation rates of these students. In order to achieve true justice, equity, diversity,and inclusion (JEDI), we need to examine the reasons for this difference of experience

Conference Session

Graduate Studies Division (GSD) Technical Session 4: Mentoring Programs in Graduate Education

Collection

2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Nahndi Tirrell Kirk-Bradley, Texas A&M University; Cara London, Texas A&M University; Eldridge Raymond Jr., Texas A&M University; Janie M. Moore, Texas A&M University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies Division (GSD)

the mentoring relationship hasbeen understudied. Thirdly, the intersectionality of graduate students' identities, including race,ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation, and how it may affect mentoring relationships andretention rates, has not been thoroughly explored. Fourthly, there is a lack of clarity on the mosteffective formats and structures of mentoring for various graduate student groups. Finally, whilemost of the existing work on STEM mentoring has been conducted in academic settings, therole of mentoring in professional contexts, where graduate students may face uniquechallenges, requires further investigation. Addressing these gaps in the literature will contributeto a more comprehensive understanding of the role of mentoring in

Conference Session

Graduate Studies Division (GSD) Technical Session 6: Challenges and Coping Strategies of Engineering Graduate Students

Collection

2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Liesl Klein, Villanova University; Greg J. Strimel, Purdue University at West Lafayette (PPI)

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies Division (GSD)

university. Departments can also ensure the financial stability of their students by hav-ing policies and procedures in place for continued student funding. Stress fromnot knowing if they will be funded in the next semester or over the summer canbe detrimental to many graduate students. With some form of ensured fundingmechanism, student financial-stress could be greatly reduced. Departments can also assist in ensuring graduate students have a positivework culture and promote work-life balance. Department culture is a criticalcomponent of graduate students feeling welcome and encouraged. Having eventsthat support graduate students, assistance programs for students, and encour-gaing positive interactions between graduate students, faculty, and

Conference Session

Graduate Studies Division (GSD) Technical Session 7: Graduate Student Experiences

Collection

2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Rafael De Leon, The Ohio State University; Ann D. Christy P.E., The Ohio State University; Rosalyn Stoa, Colorado State University; Alexa Jayne, Colorado State University; Bailey Underill, Colorado State University

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies Division (GSD)

, students, workers, or something in between? Though Ipersonally believe that doctoral engineering students exist outside of this binary discussionbecause of their important societal role in contributing to knowledge, within the binary they docontribute economically and do work that they are not sufficiently compensated for. They dowork, plain and simple.I am not alone in this line of thinking. Legally, the classification of graduate students asemployees has gone back and forth since the 1990’s. At private institutions, this dispute fallsunder the National Labor Relations Act. Specifically, the decision as to whether or not graduatestudents at private institutions are employees falls under the National Labor Relations Boardwhich is a board made up

Conference Session

Graduate Studies Division (GSD) Technical Session 7: Graduate Student Experiences

Collection

2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Marah C. Lambert, University of North Carolina at Charlotte; Lisa Merriweather, University of North Carolina at Charlotte; Cathy Howell, University of North Carolina at Charlotte; Dilara Yaya Bryson, University of North Carolina at Charlotte; Edith Gnanadass, The University of Memphis

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies Division (GSD)

actions [6, 9]. This suggests the presenceof an ecosystem within STEM where representation is insufficient to provide an inclusivelearning environment to elevate minoritized experiences while dually addressing the embeddedculture of high productivity. The representation loss presents a continued minimization of“diverse perspectives and availability as role models for future scientists and engineers” [10, p.2].Gender and STEMResearch has found that women doctoral students differ from men in terms of their career goalsand challenges [11, 12]. Cidlinská found differences between men's and women’s overall careerpaths and attitudes within the natural and technical sciences—STEM—and the social sciencesand humanities—SSH. STEM doctoral students (both

Conference Session

GSD 1: From Recruitment to Retention

Collection

2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Anne Lynn Gillian-Daniel, University of Wisconsin - Madison; Rebecca Cors, University of Wisconsin - Madison; Wendy C. Crone, University of Wisconsin - Madison; Victor zavala, University of Wisconsin - Madison; Derek Johnson, University of Wisconsin - Madison; Kerri Lyn Phillips, University of Wisconsin - Madison

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies Division (GSD)

suggests that the development of these two factors associated with graduateschool success – research self-efficacy and sense of belonging – was sometimes intertwined forFF students. This is captured in a written reflection: “I believe that researchers (or anyone) are best at their professional/academic roles when they are happy in their personal roles; having a strong network of peers has been fundamental to feeling capable in grad school.”This echoes prior research on the importance of peers and mentors on an individual’s self-efficacy [4]. The links FF students made between sense of belonging and understanding how towork with new environments, people, and ways of doing things in graduate school align

Conference Session

Graduate Studies Division (GSD) Technical Session 6: Challenges and Coping Strategies of Engineering Graduate Students

Collection

2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Darby Rose Riley, Rowan University; Kaitlin Mallouk, Rowan University

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies Division (GSD)

cope withstress should focus primarily on improving their emotional relationship with their position [7],[15], [34]. In this study, students who developed a healthy work-life balance and found time todetach completely from academic responsibilities both had lower levels of stress and a greaterself-reported ability to manage their stress. However, as previous studies have found, it is likelythat a student’s identity as an engineering graduate student, and the environment they live andwork in, might stand between them and more effective coping strategies [6], [15], [34], [40].The engineering student “boot camp mentality”—the belief that an experience of sharedsuffering and hardship can bring people closer together—can make some students feel as

Conference Session

GSD 8: Industry and Professional Skills

Collection

2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jemimmah Namodi, Iowa State University of Science and Technology; Ann M Gansemer-Topf, Iowa State University ; Gül E. Kremer, University of Dayton; Qing Li; Shan Jiang, Iowa State University of Science and Technology

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies Division (GSD)

Paper ID #47692Empowering Professional Skill Training for STEM Graduate Students ThroughActive Learning and Inductive TeachingJemimmah Namodi, Iowa State University of Science and Technology Jemimmah Namodi is a PhD student in Higher Education at the School of Education, Iowa State University. She earned her MBA from Kenyatta University and a Master of Science in Student Affairs from Missouri State University. Her research interests focus on rural populations, emphasizing their educational experiences and pathways in higher education.Dr. Ann M Gansemer-Topf, Iowa State University Ann Gansemer-Topf is Professor and

Conference Session

Graduate Studies Division (GSD) Technical Session 3: Mentorship and Communication in Engineering Graduate Programs

Collection

2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Himani Sharma, Arizona State University; Amanda Singer Nault, The Ohio State University; Mayra S. Artiles, Arizona State University; Rachel Louis Kajfez, The Ohio State University; Holly M. Matusovich, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies Division (GSD)

appropriate expectations for graduate students, navigatingdifferences in perspectives and goals, managing self-doubt, and addressing problems outside thetraditional role(s) of a graduate advisor. The student-advisor relationship allows both the advisorand the student to act as catalysts for growth in terms of both professional and personaldevelopment.The work presented within this paper is only the preliminary results of a larger body of researchseeking to identify and characterize mutually beneficial graduate advising practices. Future workwill include the analysis of transcripts from all four of the workshop sessions (EffectiveStrategies for Mentoring Graduate Students, Effective Strategies for Identifying the RightGraduate Students, Effective