More Like this

1. Identifying common perceived stressors and stress-relief strategies among undergraduate engineering students

   Ban, N.; Shannon, H.; Wright, C.J.; Miller, M.E.; Hargis, L.E.; Usher, E.L.; Hammer, J.H.; Wilson, S.A. (January 2022, ASEE annual conference exposition)

   Mental health concerns have become a growing problem among collegiate engineering students. To date, there has been little research to understand the factors that influence student mental health within this population. Literature on engineering student mental health supports the idea that engineering students experience high levels of mental health distress, which often stems from stressors such as academic workload, maintaining a strong grade point average (GPA), and pressure from parents and/or professors. Of particular concern, distressed engineering students are less likely to seek professional help when compared to students in other majors. As a result, a comprehensive study was conducted on engineering mental health help-seeking behavior. Through secondary analysis of the data from that study, this work aims to identify common perceived stressors that may contribute to mental health distress, as well as perceived coping strategies that may be used instead of seeking professional mental health help. A diverse group of 33 engineering undergraduate students were a part of the comprehensive study on engineering mental health help-seeking behavior. For this study, qualitative data was analyzed to address two specific research questions: 1) What are the main sources of stress that engineers have experienced in their engineering training? and 2) What coping strategies have students developed as an alternative to seeking professional help? Several common perceived stressors were identified including an unsupportive and challenging engineering training environment, challenges in time management, and academic performance expectations. Perceived coping strategies identified include relationships with family, friends, and classmates and health and wellness activities such as exercise, mindfulness, and maintaining spiritual health. The results of this work will be helpful in recognizing ways to improve engineering education and increase student support. 

   more » « less
2. “Interdisciplinary Education,” “R&D,” and “Contamination”: Comparing the Stressors of Biomedical Engineering Doctoral Students to Other Engineering Fields

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s43683-024-00148-4  

   Mirabelli, Joseph F; Cromley, Jennifer G; Jensen, Karin J (July 2024, Biomedical Engineering Education)

   Doctoral students experience high rates of mental health distress and dropout; however, the mental health and wellness of engineering doctoral students is understudied. Studies of student persistence, wellness, and success often aggregate fields together, such as by studying all engineering students. Thus, little work has considered the experiences of biomedical engineering (BME) doctoral students, despite differences between doctoral BME research, course content, and career expectations compared with other engineering disciplines. In this qualitative interview case study, we explore stressors present in the BME graduate experience that are unique from engineering students in other disciplines. Methods We analyzed a longitudinal interview study of doctoral engineering students across four timepoints within a single academic year, consisting of a subsample (n=6) of doctoral students in a BME discipline, among a larger sample of engineering doctoral students (N=55). BME students in the sample experienced some themes generated from a larger thematic analysis differently compared with other engineering disciplines. These differences are presented and discussed, grounded in a model of workplace stress. Results BME participants working in labs with biological samples expressed a lack of control over the timing and availability of materials for their research projects. BME participants also had more industry-focused career plans and described more commonly coming to BME graduate studies from other fields (e.g., another engineering major) and struggling with the scope and content of their introductory coursework. A common throughline for the stressors was the impact of the interdisciplinary nature of BME programs, to a greater extent compared with other engineering student experiences in our sample. Conclusions We motivate changes for researchers, instructors, and policymakers which specifically target BME students and emphasize the importance of considering studies at various unit levels (university department level vs college level vs full institution) when considering interventions targeting student stress and wellness. 

   more » « less
3. Mentoring relationships between doctoral students and postdocs in the lab sciences

   https://doi.org/10.1108/SGPE-08-2019-0071  

   Blaney, Jennifer M.; Kang, Jina; Wofford, Annie M.; Feldon, David F. (August 2020, Studies in Graduate and Postdoctoral Education)

   null (Ed.)

   Purpose This study aims to examine how science, technology, engineering, and mathematics doctoral students interact with postdocs within the research laboratory, identifying the nature and potential impacts of student–postdoc mentoring relationships. Design/methodology/approach Using a sample of 53 doctoral students in the biological sciences, this study uses a sequential mixed-methods design. More specifically, a phenomenological approach enabled the authors to identify how doctoral students make meaning of their interactions with postdocs and other research staff. Descriptive statistics are used to examine how emergent themes might differ as a product of gender and race/ethnicity and the extent to which emergent themes may relate to key doctoral student socialization outcomes. Findings This study reveals six emergent themes, which primarily focus on how doctoral students receive instrumental and psychosocial support from postdocs in their labs. The most frequent emergent theme captures the unique ways in which postdocs provide ongoing, hands-on support and troubleshooting at the lab bench. When examining how this theme plays a role in socialization outcomes, the results suggest that doctoral students who described this type of support from postdocs had more positive mental health outcomes than those who did not describe this type of hands-on support. Originality/value Literature on graduate student mentorship has focused primarily on the impact of advisors, despite recent empirical evidence of a “cascading mentorship” model, in which senior students and staff also play a key mentoring role. This study provides new insights into the unique mentoring role of postdocs, focusing on the nature and potential impacts of student–postdoc interactions. 

   more » « less
4. The Stressors for Doctoral Students Questionnaire: Year 2 of an RFE project on understanding graduate engineering student well-being and retention

   Jensen, K. J.; Cromley, J. G.; Mirabelli, J. F. (June 2023, ASEE Annual Conference Paper Repository)

   Drawing from the results of this study and a review of the literature on graduate student stressors, we developed in Year 2 the Stressors for Doctoral Students Questionnaire for Engineering (SDSQ-E) and administered it twice, in fall 2022 and in spring 2023. The SDSQ-E measures the severity and frequency of stressors including advisor-related stressors, class-taking stressors, research or laboratory stressors, campus life and financial stressors, and identity-related or microaggression-related stressors. We present a description of our project and updates on its progress in its second year, including survey results from our 2022-2023 data collection. 

   more » « less
5. Work in Progress: Designing a Survey Instrument to Assess Graduate Student Motivation Towards Degree Completion

   https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--44208  

   Rodriguez_Mejia, Eduardo; Bodnar, Cheryl (June 2023, ASEE Conferences)

   This work in progress paper describes the development of an instrument to assess graduate student motivation towards doctoral degree completion. Doctoral attrition rates in the United States have been estimated to be around 40% over a 10 year completion period [8]. King [8] also found that less than 20% of students complete their doctoral programs in the expected timeframe of between 3 and 4 years. These results indicate the need to better understand factors that affect graduate students' experience during their doctoral program, particularly their choice to persist, so we can ensure equal opportunities for Ph.D completion. Spaulding and Rockinson-Szapkiw [12] talk about personal factors that contribute to doctoral students’ persistence. These factors include motivation, strategies for writing the dissertation, time management, and attributes such as credibility, commitment, and increased monetary compensation. As part of this research study, we have selected to focus upon student motivation as motivation theories have been found to provide explanations for factors that influence individuals choices and actions [3]. Specifically, we have selected the Expectancy-Value Theory (EVT) of motivation because it considers social, cultural, and psychological factors [1], making it beneficial for elements that could be relevant in a graduate studies program. This work seeks to create a motivational instrument specific to an engineering graduate studies program setting. Our instrument development process began with the Engineering Motivation Survey, developed by Brown & Matusovich [2]. This survey instrument was designed to measure motivation of undergraduate engineering students towards engineering education and career choices. Ultimately, the purpose was to measure motivational factors that contribute toward choices to pursue and complete engineering degrees. The 35 likert scale questions were rephrased to focus on a graduate student setting. After the rephrasing, the draft survey was used in a Think-aloud protocol with six engineering graduate students to determine what changes may be needed to better support its new area of implementation. Upon finalization of the graduate student engineering motivation survey we will apply it to measure civil and environmental engineering graduate students’ motivation towards their doctoral degree completion as part of their participation in a Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) program. 

   more » « less