Turned Off from an Academic Career: Engineering and Computing Doctoral Students and the Reasons for Their Dissuasion

Abstract

Aim/Purpose: We sought to understand factors that dissuade engineering and computing doctoral students in the United States from pursuing a career in the professoriate. Background: Many PhD students start the doctoral process excited about the possibility of becoming a professor. After a few years of doctoral education, however, many become less interested in academic careers or even come to loathe the idea of a faculty position. Methodology: Participants in a larger study (N = 744) completed a comprehensive survey about their educational experiences and career aspirations. This study focused on a subset of these respondents (n = 147), who indicated they did not want to pursue faculty positions and explained their reasoning with a brief open-ended response. We coded these open-ended responses. Contribution: We found a general lack of interest in the professoriate and disgust over the associated pressure-filled norms and culture; this aversion is the article’s focus. Respondents were critical of institutional norms that emphasize research (e.g., stress related to grant writing, publishing, and promotion as junior faculty) and described their own experiences as PhD students. Findings: Findings support rethinking the outdated faculty model and interchanging it with healthier and more holistic approaches. Recommendations for Practitioners: These approaches might include advocating for and emphasizing the contributions of research, teaching, and professional excellence as well as removing the secrecy and toxicity of tenure and promotion that discourage individuals from becoming the next generation of engineering and computing educators and knowledge makers. Recommendation for Researchers: Future researchers should explore in greater depth the extent to which junior faculty’s experiences in the professoriate influence doctoral students’ and postdoctoral scholars’ attitudes toward working in academia. To the extent that this is the case, researchers should then explore ways of improving faculty experiences, in addition to improving doctoral students’ experiences that are unrelated to their socialization. Impact on Society: Having a deeper understanding of the reasons why some doctoral engineering and computing students are uninterested in the professoriate is critical for removing barriers toward becoming faculty. Future Research: Researchers should explore the factors that would improve doctoral students’ perceptions of the professoriate, and better understand how they might disproportionately affect members of historically underrepresented groups.

Broadening participation in the engineering professoriate: Influences on Allen's journey in developing professorial intentions

“…While the possible reasons individuals choose faculty careers are myriad, most explanations tend to recapitulate limited extant literature and/or recount anecdotal conversations with colleagues who chose the professoriate. However, empirical scholarship on the pursuit of faculty careers remains limited in the engineering education literature (Burt, 2019; McGee et al, 2019; McGee, Robinson, Bentley, & Houston, 2015). Developing an in‐depth understanding of the reasons why individuals choose this path requires both large‐scale surveys and zoomed‐in accounts that detail the how and why of their choices.…”

To Be, or Not to Be, a Professor: Views of Engineering Postdoctoral Scholars

“…An area for further research and exploration could focus on the fact that all URM participants reported "unsupportive" or "hostile" environments during their graduate work and/or postdoctoral appointment, which resulted in uncertainty regarding their stamina and resiliency "to make it as a professor." This finding is supported in the works of Burt (2019) and McGee et al (2019) both of which highlight the importance of the PhD socialization process and how this experience can negatively affect an individual's desire to continue toward a career in the professoriate. Concern also was voiced regarding the competitive nature of the field, leading to an unhealthy work-life balance for the participants, as well as for their mentors and supervisors.…”

“…Half of all students entering graduate school in STEM fields consider a career in the professoriate desirable (McGee et al, 2019). This initial interest originating in the early experiences and family influences present in an individual's life (Burt, 2019), an attraction to academic work (Lindholm, 2004), the perception of research autonomy, independence and individual expression (Gibbs & Griffin, 2013;Lindholm, 2004), the allure of the university work environment (Lindholm, 2004), and as a platform to help others (Gibbs & Griffin, 2013).…”

“…This initial interest originating in the early experiences and family influences present in an individual's life (Burt, 2019), an attraction to academic work (Lindholm, 2004), the perception of research autonomy, independence and individual expression (Gibbs & Griffin, 2013;Lindholm, 2004), the allure of the university work environment (Lindholm, 2004), and as a platform to help others (Gibbs & Griffin, 2013). McGee et al (2019) recently found 51% of students entering graduate school initially indicated an interest in a career in the professoriate; however, only half of these students considered an academic career a viable option at the time of graduation. The PhD socialization process students experience appears to negatively skew students' perceptions of the professoriate and pushes them in alternate career directions (Burt, 2019).…”

“…The PhD socialization process students experience appears to negatively skew students' perceptions of the professoriate and pushes them in alternate career directions (Burt, 2019). Attributing factors for the dissuasion include the norms and pressures associated with academia, a general disdain for grant writing, work-life imbalance, inadequate financial compensation, the political climate of academia, as well as the formulation of opinions based on experiences during the PhD socialization process (McGee et al, 2019). In addition to these factors, underrepresented minority and female students identify issues of marginalization and racial and gender bias as contributing influences making academia undesirable (Griffin, 2019;Robinson, 2016).…”