Practitioner Experience Meets Graduate Academic Research: How Intersections Guide the Work of Returning Engineering Ph.D. Students

Jaclyn K. Murray; Shanna R. Daly; Erika Mosyjowski; Diane L. Peters

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Conference: 2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Columbus, Ohio
Publication Date: June 24, 2017
Start Date: June 24, 2017
End Date: June 28, 2017
Conference Session: Graduate Education Model, Industry and Practitioner Experience - Graduate Studies Division Technical Session 1
Tagged Division: Graduate Studies
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Page Count: 22
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--28749
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/28749
Download Count: 664

Paper Authors

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Jaclyn K. Murray University of Michigan orcid.org/0000-0003-4374-3683

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Jaclyn K. Murray is a Research Fellow at the University of Michigan in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Her interests include creativity in design, student learning, and the integration of engineering design into secondary science courses.

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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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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 innovation, professional identity development, and supporting the recruitment and persistence of underrepresented students within engineering.

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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

Practitioner Experience Meets Graduate Academic Research: How Intersections Guide the Work of Returning Engineering PhD Students

Topics: Enabling diversity in engineering graduate education Graduate student needs and experiences Potpourri; other related Graduate Studies topics

Returners—those with engineering degrees who work outside of academia for at least five years and come back to the academic setting to earn their PhDs—bring a unique blend of perspectives to their engineering work, making them well suited to discover new knowledge, design innovative solutions, and solve problems that will keep the U.S. globally competitive and contribute to finding solutions to the challenges of our present and future world. However, little empirical work ahs been done to understand just their prior work and PhD training come together to shape their research topics and future plans. Thus, in our work, we investigated the experiences and perspectives of returners to understand better how prior engagement with practitioner practice influences graduate engineering academic research. The following research questions guided our work: 1. In what ways do returners transition to academia? 2. To what extent does previous work experience impact the ways returning students experience graduate school? 3. How does the intersection of prior engineering experience and academia shape the topics of research work and their connectedness to the “real-world?”

Twenty-five Ph.D. students recruited from three institutions engaged in an hour-long interview about the transition from being industry or government employees to members of an academic community as Ph.D. students. The purposely selected sample ensured a variety of work experiences (including large and small scale, government and industry) and research interests and individuals who were diverse in age, gender, ethnicity, and year in their graduate program. In our analysis, we examined to what extent the frameworks of creative cognition and community of practice (COP) facilitated understanding of pathways for the experiences of five returners. Creative cognition pays particular attention to the role of prior experiences in shaping creative outcomes, acknowledging that existing ideas constrain and direct the form of newly developed ideas, and providing a lens on how prior experiences in government or industry interact with present contexts to influence innovation. A COP is a consortium of individuals working toward a common goal, with a particular set of practices valued by its kinship.

Returners enrolled in graduate school to further investigate an industry problem, to take advantage of academic freedom, to gain the credentials required to teach at the post-secondary level, to carry out engineering education research, and as a result of layoffs due to economic downturns. Industry and government experience exposed participants to collaborative and communicative practices, thus strengthening their professional social skills. Individuals with experience at large companies felt their contribution was minimal; however, those with small company experience considered their work important. In most cases, participants’ dissertation topics related to prior experience, but did not necessarily associate with the most recent non-academic experience. The final paper elaborates upon the statement above.

Citation
Format

Murray, J. K., & Daly, S. R., & Mosyjowski, E., & Peters, D. L. (2017, June), Practitioner Experience Meets Graduate Academic Research: How Intersections Guide the Work of Returning Engineering Ph.D. Students Paper presented at 2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Columbus, Ohio. 10.18260/1-2--28749

TY - CPAPER
AB - Practitioner Experience Meets Graduate Academic Research: How Intersections Guide the Work of Returning Engineering PhD Students

Topics:
Enabling diversity in engineering graduate education
Graduate student needs and experiences
Potpourri; other related Graduate Studies topics

Returners—those with engineering degrees who work outside of academia for at least five years and come back to the academic setting to earn their PhDs—bring a unique blend of perspectives to their engineering work, making them well suited to discover new knowledge, design innovative solutions, and solve problems that will keep the U.S. globally competitive and contribute to finding solutions to the challenges of our present and future world. However, little empirical work ahs been done to understand just their prior work and PhD training come together to shape their research topics and future plans. Thus, in our work, we investigated the experiences and perspectives of returners to understand better how prior engagement with practitioner practice influences graduate engineering academic research. The following research questions guided our work:
1. In what ways do returners transition to academia?
2. To what extent does previous work experience impact the ways returning students experience graduate school?
3. How does the intersection of prior engineering experience and academia shape the topics of research work and their connectedness to the “real-world?”

Twenty-five Ph.D. students recruited from three institutions engaged in an hour-long interview about the transition from being industry or government employees to members of an academic community as Ph.D. students. The purposely selected sample ensured a variety of work experiences (including large and small scale, government and industry) and research interests and individuals who were diverse in age, gender, ethnicity, and year in their graduate program.
In our analysis, we examined to what extent the frameworks of creative cognition and community of practice (COP) facilitated understanding of pathways for the experiences of five returners. Creative cognition pays particular attention to the role of prior experiences in shaping creative outcomes, acknowledging that existing ideas constrain and direct the form of newly developed ideas, and providing a lens on how prior experiences in government or industry interact with present contexts to influence innovation. A COP is a consortium of individuals working toward a common goal, with a particular set of practices valued by its kinship.

Returners enrolled in graduate school to further investigate an industry problem, to take advantage of academic freedom, to gain the credentials required to teach at the post-secondary level, to carry out engineering education research, and as a result of layoffs due to economic downturns. Industry and government experience exposed participants to collaborative and communicative practices, thus strengthening their professional social skills. Individuals with experience at large companies felt their contribution was minimal; however, those with small company experience considered their work important. In most cases, participants’ dissertation topics related to prior experience, but did not necessarily associate with the most recent non-academic experience. The final paper elaborates upon the statement above.

AU - Jaclyn K. Murray
AU - Shanna R. Daly
AU - Erika Mosyjowski
AU - Diane L. Peters
CY - Columbus, Ohio
DA - 2017/06/24
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Practitioner Experience Meets Graduate Academic Research: How Intersections Guide the Work of Returning Engineering Ph.D. Students
UR - https://peer.asee.org/28749
DO - 10.18260/1-2--28749
ER -