Early Discovery: Evolving a Program to Prepare Freshman and Sophomore Students for Graduate School and Research (Experience)

Nia A. Keith; Jacqueline E McDermott

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Conference: 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Publication Date: June 22, 2025
Start Date: June 22, 2025
End Date: August 15, 2025
Conference Session: Minorities in Engineering Division(MIND) Technical Session 1
Tagged Division: Minorities in Engineering Division(MIND)
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Page Count: 16
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/56310

Paper Authors

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Nia A. Keith Purdue University College of Engineering

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Nia Keith is a Master's student in Electrical Engineering and a Graduate Assistant in the College of Engineering at Purdue University. With a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Southern Illinois University - Carbondale, Nia brings valuable industry experience from her positions at Ford Motor Company and GE Aerospace. Her research focuses on enhancing minority engineer retention programs and mentoring underrepresented students in engineering. Nia's work bridges academia, industry, and research, drawing from her diverse experiences to create inclusivity in engineering. As an advocate for diversity in engineering, she is committed to being a visible role model and supportive presence for aspiring engineers.

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Jacqueline E McDermott Purdue University at West Lafayette (COE) orcid.org/0000-0003-3435-4416

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Dr. Jackie McDermott joined the Purdue Engineering Dean’s Office for Graduate Education in August 2018 and is the Associate Director of Graduate Student Partnerships and Access. Dr. McDermott completed her B.S. in Biology from Hofstra University (NY) with minors in Spanish and Biochemistry, and her Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Biology from Brandeis University (Boston, MA). As the first person in her family to obtain a graduate degree, Jackie is enthusiastic about preparing future graduate students as well as supporting current graduate students during their Master's and Doctoral studies. Jackie has over 8 years of higher education administration experience, including serving as Co-PI on Alfred P. Sloan Foundation grants that support graduate students. Jackie is specifically focused on ensuring that everyone has a fair shot at pursuing a graduate degree in engineering.

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Abstract

The Early Discovery program was initially developed by [University] College of Engineering to broaden participation of minority students pursuing Ph.Ds. and faculty careers. Since its creation in 2016, Early Discovery has evolved - changing names, modality, and focus, however the goal of the program has always remained the same: to support freshman and sophomore level undergraduate students from diverse backgrounds in preparation for graduate school and research.

While there are many programs that exist to help prepare upper-level undergraduate students for graduate school, few institutions have an intentional focus to attract students early at the freshman and sophomore levels. The Early Discovery Program has existed in three different formats in the past: 1) on campus visit, 2) virtual mini-conference and 3) virtual mentoring circle program. The purpose of this study is to understand which of the three Early Discovery formats have been the most engaging and impactful for early undergraduate students over the last 8 years. We will present experiences and share details of implementation and results, including benefits and drawbacks for each format, lessons learned, and feasibility (budget, staffing power, etc…). This study will also detail feedback from participants, number of students engaged each year and whether participants are now pursuing a graduate degree and/or research.

Overall, this evolution of Early Discovery experiences will be set into the larger context of other programs that exist in the United States, and it will enable [University] engineering and others to better frame outreach and engagement strategies for attracting younger students to graduate studies.

Citation
Format

Keith, N. A., & McDermott, J. E. (2025, June), Early Discovery: Evolving a Program to Prepare Freshman and Sophomore Students for Graduate School and Research (Experience) Paper presented at 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Montreal, Quebec, Canada . https://peer.asee.org/56310