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1. Beyond attrition: advisor relationships, progress clarity, and laboratory switching in engineering doctoral programs

   https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2026.1770054  

   Bahnson, Matthew; Abane, Tabe Ako (January 2026, Frontiers in Education)

   IntroductionSeveral factors shape doctoral students’ decisions to leave their programs before completion. Among these, the quality of the advising plays a critical role. Yet, there remains limited understanding of how advisor relationships influence consequential decisions, such as early departure and lab change considerations in doctoral engineering students. This paper investigates the influence of advisor relationships on early departures and lab change considerations in doctoral engineering students. MethodsEngineering doctoral students from 26 top-ranked universities in the United States and 17 doctoral engineering disciplines responded to an online survey on departure considerations, advisor relationships, and lab change actions. In our sample (n = 269), fewer women (n = 108) participated compared to men (n = 121), with gender non-conforming individuals comprising a smaller proportion (n = 12), and 28 participants not self-identifying a gender. Linear regression was used to measure the association between advisor relationships and departure considerations, both with and without a master’s degree. Mediation tests were performed to assess the mediating effect of student’s ability to assess their progress to degree (progress assessment) on this relationship. ResultsOur results indicate that advisor relationships explained 12% of the variance in departure without a degree (R² = 0.12,F(1, 267) = 36.85,p < 0.001) and with a master’s degree (R² = 0.12,F(1, 267) = 35.66,p < 0.001). Progress assessment was statistically associated as a partial mediator of this relationship, with significant indirect effects (β = −0.05,p < 0.05) for departure with or without a master. DiscussionLow advisor relationship was associated with self-reported engagement in preparatory steps for early departure and research lab change considerations among doctoral engineering students. Conversely, negative advisor relationships are associated with increased self-reported engagement in steps leading to lab changes or departure considerations. 

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2. “If I knew what else I should do, I would have left by now:” Two engineering PhD students’ experiences with Master’s-level departure

   Zerbe, E.; Berdanier, C.G.P. (October 2019, IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference)

   This Research Full Paper presents two examples of doctoral engineering attrition. To date, little research has been conducted on the many compounding factors that lead to attrition in graduate programs. In this paper, we present the narratives of two doctoral PhD students, Kelsey and Amy, who were deciding on departing from the engineering PhD. These narratives embody a deeper investigation of academic self-concept development through graduate school, with a focus on the decision-making processes to continue in the PhD program or decide to depart with a Master’s degree. At the time of the interviews, both participants were still enrolled in their programs, but one had definite plans to depart and left shortly after the interview. This study is one of the first that highlights the role of the Master's degree as an off-ramp from the engineering doctorate and lends insight to narratives surrounding attrition in engineering: Despite academic success in their courses and successful research progress, these participants decided to depart even after passing significant milestones such as qualifying exams. This research presents the beginning of a larger research project with a goal of generating a more complete narrative of the attrition process for the students, with an explicit focus on Master's-level departure. 

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3. Characterizing Doctoral Engineering Student Socialization: Narratives of Mental Health, Decisions to Persist, and Consideration of Career Trajectories

   https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE43999.2019.9028438  

   Hocker, E.; Zerbe, E.; Berdanier, C.G.P. (October 2019, IEEE Frontiers in Education)

   This research full paper explores interview data with N=36 engineering graduate students to understand the factors and characteristics of graduate socialization, with the effort of better preparing students to succeed in doctoral programs. This research is motivated by the alarming fact that nearly one-third of engineering doctoral students will not finish their PhD programs; however, little research has been conducted on the various factors that can lead to attrition or enhance persistence in graduate engineering programs. This paper presents the results from the interview phase of a larger study investigating doctoral engineering socialization, attrition, persistence, and career trajectories. The participants for this study come from large research-intensive universities across the United States, and were sampled for maximum variation in a number of different categories, including stage in their doctoral program, gender, and race. Upon collecting and analyzing interview data from our participants through constant comparative and content analysis methods, several themes arose including concerns for mental health in engineering graduate students and uncertainties with joining the culture of academia in their future careers. Further, although the participants for this study are currently graduate students who anticipate completing their PhDs, nearly half of the participants discussed strongly considered leaving at some point. This study adds to the body of literature surrounding engineering attrition and the underlying issues driving engineering PhDs away from academic engineering careers. 

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4. Quantitative Comparison between Writing Attitudes of U.S. Domestic and International Engineering Graduate Students

   Zerbe, Ellen; Berdanier, Catherine G. (June 2019, 126th ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition)

   Engineering students entering graduate school are typically underprepared for the writing tasks involved completing a Ph.D. Previous work has shown that writing attitudes and confidence in writing skills correlate with likelihood of pursuing certain careers and persistence and attrition in the program. However, all work to date has considered graduate students all together: In this study we seek to understand potential differences in the ways that U.S. domestic students and international student (both those studying in the U.S. and those studying in other countries) so that researchers and faculty who teach engineering communication can better tailor their activities and approaches to teaching writing. A survey accessing the students writing approaches, concepts, and self-regulatory efficacy was distributed to engineering graduate students at universities in Japan and Norway. The results of this survey were then compared to the results of a similar survey taken by domestic engineering graduate students and international engineering graduate students studying in the U.S. Findings indicate that there are statistically significant differences between U.S. domestic engineering graduate students with international engineering graduate students for most of the engineering writing attitudinal factors studied, indicating that instructors should begin to tailor approaches differently for individual students. From a research perspective, we will continue to use these findings to investigate and illuminate cultural variations that can influence the writing process. 

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5. Persistence at what cost? How graduate engineering students consider the costs of persistence within attrition considerations

   https://doi.org/10.1002/jee.20528  

   Sallai, Gabriella M.; Bahnson, Matthew; Shanachilubwa, Kanembe; Berdanier, Catherine G. (July 2023, Journal of Engineering Education)

   Abstract Background While previous work in higher education documents the impact of high tuition costs of attending graduate school as a key motivator in attrition decisions, in engineering, most graduate students are fully funded on research fellowships, indicating there are different issues causing individuals to consider departure. There has been little work characterizing nonfinancial costs for students in engineering graduate programs and the impact these costs may have on persistence or attrition. Purpose/Hypothesis Framed through the lens of cost as a component of the expectancy–value theory framework and the graduate attrition decisions (GrAD) model conceptual framework specific to engineering attrition, the purpose of this article is to characterize the costs engineering graduate students associate with attending graduate school and document how costs affect students' decisions to persist or depart. Design/Method Data were collected through semistructured interviews with 42 engineering graduate students from R1 engineering doctoral programs across the United States who have considered, are currently considering, or have chosen to depart from their engineering PhD programs with a master's degree. Results In addition to time and money, which are costs previously captured in research, participants identified costs to life balance, costs to well‐being, and identify‐informed opportunity costs framed in terms of what “could have been” if they had chosen to not go to graduate school. As these costs relate to persistence, students primarily identified their expended effort and already‐incurred costs as the primary motivator for persistence, rather than any expected benefits of a graduate degree. Conclusion The findings of this work expand the cost component of the GrAD model conceptual framework, providing a deeper understanding of the costs that graduate students relate to their persistence in engineering graduate programs. It evidences that motivation to persist may not be due to particularly strong goals but may result from costs already incurred. Through this research, the scholarly community, students, advisors, and university policymakers can better understand the needs of engineering graduate students as they navigate graduate study. 

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