The Role of Engineering Identity in Engineering Doctoral Students' Experiences

Abstract

Heather entered the Applied Social and Community Psychology program in the fall of 2014, after completing her Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of Cincinnati. She has participated in various research projects examining the interaction between stereotypes and science interest and confidence, their influence upon womens' performance in school and the workplace, and their presence in the media and consequences for viewers. Her primary research interest is science identity, STEM education, and participation in online communities.

Development and Testing of an Instrument to Understand Engineering Doctoral Students’ Identities and Motivations

“…However, some items still needed to be cut, as the goal of piloting these two surveys was to shorten them and combine them in to one. As a result, we looked back to interview data gathered previously [11] and determined that the best items to cut were 'My family sees me as a SCIENTIST' and 'Others ask me for help with SCIENCE'. The first was cut due to statements from students that, as they became increasingly specialized in their graduate careers, their families were less familiar with the work they were doing and they looked to them less often for recognition and approval.…”

“…Two items showed problematic cross-loadings, specifically 'I am confident that I can discuss current research trends' and 'I can overcome setbacks when doing RESEARCH', and were dropped. Finally, there were a number of new items created for 'performance/competence' based on previous qualitative work with graduate students [11], and given the length constraints on the survey some of them needed to be dropped. Although the following items performed adequately in the EFA, they were discarded to maximize parsimony and streamline the scale:…”

“…Existing model-minority stereotypes of Asian students often pigeonhole them as being adept in science (and unskilled in other areas; [31], and thus Asian students may be reluctant to identify as scientists and thus conform to the stereotype. Additionally, there exists a debate in engineering about the definitions of science vs. engineering and who 'counts' as an engineer [11]. EDS are sensitive to this debate and to the possibility of being excluded from the field for not conforming to group norms, and so this may interact with the above-mentioned stereotype to cause dissonance in Asian students that leads them to skip the item.…”

“…As the first step in this process, three qualitative studies were conducted with an EDS sample [11]- [13]. This was done both to investigate whether EDS framed their experiences and identities similarly to previous undergraduate populations, and to begin exploring questions for the planned quantitative phase.…”

“…Results indicated that engineering identity, identity fit, and future goals were as important for doctoral students as they were for undergraduates, but that the constructs were sometimes articulated and prioritized differently. For instance, graduate students who strongly identified as engineers took a more agentic role in defining what 'engineering' meant, recognizing that the field is broad and that the stereotypical definitions can be limiting [11]. Similarly, graduate students used past experiences to clarify goals and describe their future place in the field, unlike undergraduates who often only considered present performance [12].…”