Exploring Interdisciplinary Identity Formation in Graduate Students

Susan Wainscott; Dustin B. Thoman; Satchi Venkataraman

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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: Graduate Studies Division (GSD) Technical Session 4: Interdisciplinary Graduate Education
Tagged Division: Graduate Studies Division (GSD)
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/47417

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Paper Authors

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Susan Wainscott University of Nevada, Las Vegas orcid.org/0000-0001-9994-0956

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Susan Wainscott is the Engineering Librarian for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas University Libraries. She holds a Master of Library and Information Science from San Jose State University and a Master of Science in Biological Sciences from Illinois State University.

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Dustin B. Thoman San Diego State University

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Dr. Dustin Thoman is a Professor in the Department of Psychology and the Center for Research in Mathematics and Science Education at San Diego State University. His scholarship is grounded in social psychology, diversity science, and a social contextual framework of motivation. He studies how motivation can be supported or disrupted by the social and cultural contexts in which interests are sparked, developed, and ultimately become (or not) lifelong pursuits. He and his team utilize insights from motivation science to identify and remove institutional and social-contextual barriers that impede the development of educational and career interests for students from marginalized and historically underrepresented backgrounds. Improving equity and inclusion is at the heart of his team's research and translational work to support research on equity and inclusion in STEM education.

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Satchi Venkataraman San Diego State University orcid.org/0000-0002-9217-2170

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Satchi Venkataraman, Ph.D., is a Professor of Aerospace Engineering. He has served as Graduate Advisor for the Aerospace Engineering program (17 years) and as an Associate Director at the Computational Sciences Research Center at San Diego State University (11 years). His expertise is in computational mechanics and optimization applied to design of lightweight and durable composite aircraft structures. He has extensive experience in developing programs for student professional development and broadening participation (co-PI and PI on three NSF S-STEM grants).

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Abstract

The first year of graduate school can produce great angst in students undertaking a fundamental identity shift from student to researcher [1]. In interdisciplinary programs, acquiring confidence with an additional disciplinary framework and threshold concepts brings additional challenges [2]. Solutions often focus on mentoring [3], but students entering highly interdisciplinary graduate programs may need additional support that helps them integrate the unique challenges faced by students changing or integrating multiple disciplinary backgrounds and identities. We propose that formalizing career path exploration, with an emphasis on surfacing students’ angst about their options and career paths through a professional development course may ease students' transition to their emerging identity(ies). We predict that this may occur by increasing students' sense of agency around their individual professional identity development.

Grounded in identity theory, we use qualitative data analysis strategies to examine multiple artifacts of student coursework across a semester in a professional development course for first year students in a Computational Science graduate program. Specifically, we use thematic analysis and deductive coding across multiple artifacts for one cohort of computational science graduate students. We had previously found evidence of angst in thematic responses to an early course assignment that asked students to describe strengths and weaknesses of computational science careers. Students identified several aspects of computational science career paths that they described as both a strength and a weakness, for example, without a clear understanding of how to resolve that contradiction. When focusing on potential future careers with a computation science degree, students expressed angst about their future as well as conflicting categorization of opportunities and threats of the profession.

In response to these tensions, the instructor developed assignments that were designed to provide students with opportunities to resolve their angst, and our coding of student work and course reflections indicates how students crossed the developmental threshold from angst to agency. Specifically, we find evidence that encouraging students to develop their own agency through a variety of course assignments afforded students the opportunity to develop adaptive perspectives and a sense of control as they navigated troublesome shifts in professional identity. We also found evidence that students felt the program provides a sense of community, autonomy over professional development, and opportunity for exploration and self-discovery. Finally, in students’ final written reflections on the course, we found evidence of increased sense of control over their unique career development path and growth of their mentor network.

We discuss the relevance of these findings for theory on interdisciplinary identity development and design of professional development courses to increase graduate student agency.

Citation
Format

Wainscott, S., & Thoman, D. B., & Venkataraman, S. (2024, June), Exploring Interdisciplinary Identity Formation in Graduate Students Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/47417

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - The first year of graduate school can produce great angst in students undertaking a fundamental identity shift from student to researcher [1]. In interdisciplinary programs, acquiring confidence with an additional disciplinary framework and threshold concepts brings additional challenges [2]. Solutions often focus on mentoring [3], but students entering highly interdisciplinary graduate programs may need additional support that helps them integrate the unique challenges faced by students changing or integrating multiple disciplinary backgrounds and identities. We propose that formalizing career path exploration, with an emphasis on surfacing students’ angst about their options and career paths through a professional development course may ease students&#39; transition to their emerging identity(ies). We predict that this may occur by increasing students&#39; sense of agency around their individual professional identity development. 

Grounded in identity theory, we use qualitative data analysis strategies to examine multiple artifacts of student coursework across a semester in a professional development course for first year students in a Computational Science graduate program. Specifically, we use thematic analysis and deductive coding across multiple artifacts for one cohort of computational science graduate students. We had previously found evidence of angst in thematic responses to an early course assignment that asked students to describe strengths and weaknesses of computational science careers. Students identified several aspects of computational science career paths that they described as both a strength and a weakness, for example, without a clear understanding of how to resolve that contradiction. When focusing on potential future careers with a computation science degree, students expressed angst about their future as well as conflicting categorization of opportunities and threats of the profession. 

In response to these tensions, the instructor developed assignments that were designed to provide students with opportunities to resolve their angst, and our coding of student work and course reflections indicates how students crossed the developmental threshold from angst to agency. Specifically, we find evidence that encouraging students to develop their own agency through a variety of course assignments afforded students the opportunity to develop adaptive perspectives and a sense of control as they navigated troublesome shifts in professional identity. We also found evidence that students felt the program provides a sense of community, autonomy over professional development, and opportunity for exploration and self-discovery. Finally, in students’ final written reflections on the course, we found evidence of increased sense of control over their unique career development path and growth of their mentor network. 

We discuss the relevance of these findings for theory on interdisciplinary identity development and design of professional development courses to increase graduate student agency. 
AU  - Susan Wainscott
AU  - Dustin B.  Thoman
AU  - Satchi Venkataraman
CY  - Portland, Oregon
DA  - 2024/06/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Exploring Interdisciplinary Identity Formation in Graduate Students 
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/47417
ER  -