Engineering Industry Perspectives and Policies Related to  Employees’ Pursuit of Engineering Doctoral Training

Erika Mosyjowski; Shanna R. Daly; Diane L. Peters

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Conference: 2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah
Publication Date: June 23, 2018
Start Date: June 23, 2018
End Date: July 27, 2018
Conference Session: Graduate Studies Potpourri
Tagged Division: Graduate Studies
Page Count: 19
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--30412
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/30412
Download Count: 400

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Paper Authors

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Erika Mosyjowski University of Michigan

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Erika Mosyjowski is a PhD student in the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education at the University of Michigan. She also earned a Master's in Higher Education at Michigan and a Bachelor's in Psychology and Sociology from Case Western Reserve University. Before pursuing a PhD, Erika had a dual appointment in UM's College of Engineering working in student affairs and as a research associate. While grounded in the field of higher education, her research interests include engineering education, particularly as related to systems thinking, organizational cultures, professional identity development, and supporting the success and ideas of underrepresented students within engineering.

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Shanna R. Daly University of Michigan orcid.org/0000-0002-4698-2973

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Shanna Daly is an Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Michigan. She has a B.E. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Dayton (2003) and a Ph.D. in Engineering Education from Purdue University (2008). Her research focuses on strategies for design innovations through divergent and convergent thinking as well as through deep needs and community assessments using design ethnography, and translating those strategies to design tools and education. She teaches design and entrepreneurship courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels, focusing on front-end design processes.

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Diane L. Peters Kettering University

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Dr. Peters is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Kettering University.

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Abstract

In conversations about the future of engineering, supporting multiple pathways through engineering education, including at the graduate level, is a commonly cited priority. Similarly, increasing the diversity of experiences and perspectives represented in the engineering population is critical for successfully and thoughtfully addressing the complex problems typical of contemporary engineering work. Engineering returners, those students who work for five or more years after completing their undergraduate engineering degree before pursuing a PhD, represent an often-overlooked group of students who have a distinct educational trajectory and rich past experiences they bring to their PhD work. Returners' substantial engineering work experiences help direct their exploration of critical engineering research questions, inform their research process, and may position them well to help find innovative solutions to present and future engineering problems. However, our team's prior work suggests returners also report substantial financial, academic, and work/life balance challenges associated with their transition from an engineering career back to a student role. Such challenges may affect engineering professionals’ decisions to return for a PhD or persist in their degree programs. In our current project, we seek to gain a greater understanding of how engineering workplaces that may employ prospective or current returners might shape returners' experiences and decision making. Specifically, we ask: "What types of workplace practices, policies, and attitudes related to employees pursuing advanced graduate study exist at different companies that employ engineers? How might these shape employees' decisions to return to school for a PhD?"

Our findings for this study come from interviews with 6 mid-career industry and government engineering professionals who have knowledge about company policies and views related to returners or potential returners. Interviews pointed to a number of attitudes and perspectives held by employees and managers within participants’ industry and government engineering organizations that may affect employees’ interest in or ability to pursue doctoral study in engineering. Participants provided conflicting reports of their perceptions of the extent to which a doctorate was seen as valuable in engineering. Some participants noted beliefs held by some in their workplace that a PhD was too narrowly focused or not relevant to applied engineering work, while others felt that having a PhD was generally seen as an asset within their organization. While some described company policies that likely discouraged employees from pursuing a PhD, others detailed a number of company policies aimed at supporting employees returning for a PhD. These programs and policies included tuition assistance, flexible work hours to enable employees to attend courses, and programs that allowed employees to take several years off to pursue education and return to the company after completing their studies. These and other findings will be explored in detail in our full paper. Better understanding particular workplace supports and barriers to returning for a PhD will, in conjunction with findings from our previous surveys of and interviews with returning students, make more targeted recommendations about ways universities can better recruit and support students who wish to pursue a PhD after extensive work experience.

Citation
Format

Mosyjowski, E., & Daly, S. R., & Peters, D. L. (2018, June), Engineering Industry Perspectives and Policies Related to Employees’ Pursuit of Engineering Doctoral Training Paper presented at 2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--30412

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - In conversations about the future of engineering, supporting multiple pathways through engineering education, including at the graduate level, is a commonly cited priority. Similarly, increasing the diversity of experiences and perspectives represented in the engineering population is critical for successfully and thoughtfully addressing the complex problems typical of contemporary engineering work. Engineering returners, those students who work for five or more years after completing their undergraduate engineering degree before pursuing a PhD, represent an often-overlooked group of students who have a distinct educational trajectory and rich past experiences they bring to their PhD work. Returners&#39; substantial engineering work experiences help direct their exploration of critical engineering research questions, inform their research process, and may position them well to help find innovative solutions to present and future engineering problems. However, our team&#39;s prior work suggests returners also report substantial financial, academic, and work/life balance challenges associated with their transition from an engineering career back to a student role. Such challenges may affect engineering professionals’ decisions to return for a PhD or persist in their degree programs. In our current project, we seek to gain a greater understanding of how engineering workplaces that may employ prospective or current returners might shape returners&#39; experiences and decision making. Specifically, we ask: &quot;What types of workplace practices, policies, and attitudes related to employees pursuing advanced graduate study exist at different companies that employ engineers? How might these shape employees&#39; decisions to return to school for a PhD?&quot;

Our findings for this study come from interviews with 6 mid-career industry and government engineering professionals who have knowledge about company policies and views related to returners or potential returners. Interviews pointed to a number of attitudes and perspectives held by employees and managers within participants’ industry and government engineering organizations that may affect employees’ interest in or ability to pursue doctoral study in engineering. Participants provided conflicting reports of their perceptions of the extent to which a doctorate was seen as valuable in engineering. Some participants noted beliefs held by some in their workplace that a PhD was too narrowly focused or not relevant to applied engineering work, while others felt that having a PhD was generally seen as an asset within their organization. While some described company policies that likely discouraged employees from pursuing a PhD, others detailed a number of company policies aimed at supporting employees returning for a PhD. These programs and policies included tuition assistance, flexible work hours to enable employees to attend courses, and programs that allowed employees to take several years off to pursue education and return to the company after completing their studies. These and other findings will be explored in detail in our full paper.  Better understanding particular workplace supports and barriers to returning for a PhD will, in conjunction with findings from our previous surveys of and interviews with returning students, make more targeted recommendations about ways universities can better recruit and support students who wish to pursue a PhD after extensive work experience.

AU  - Erika Mosyjowski
AU  - Shanna R. Daly
AU  - Diane L. Peters
CY  - Salt Lake City, Utah
DA  - 2018/06/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Engineering Industry Perspectives and Policies Related to  Employees’ Pursuit of Engineering Doctoral Training
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/30412
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--30412
ER  -