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Driven by the fact that a great majority of STEM PhD graduates will be employed in non-academic jobs, primarily in industry (defined broadly to include private corporations, national labs, defense organizations, etc.), there is growing recognition that the present format of doctoral training does not prepare them sufficiently for a career outside academia. In response to this need, recently a new student-centered model of STEM doctorate, Pasteur Partners PhD (P3), was developed based on use-inspired research. Industry-university partnership is a requirement of this model, which calls for concerted participation of industry experts in the training of students through identification of industry-relevant research problems, co-advising about how to approach their practical solutions, and training for other non-technical skills that are crucial for success in industry. An assessment of student demand and their experience with P3’s non-traditional features, support of university administration, and the challenges felt by interested faculty advisers during its implementation at Lehigh University were presented previously. This paper completes P3 program’s assessment by analyzing the feedback provided by industry scientists who have served as co-advisers to students. The specific objective of the present study is to establish not only the benefits to students but also the advantages these collaborations offer to the industry researchers themselves as well as their organizations. Accordingly, we solicited feedback about the experience of the industry co-advisers from serving as mentors of P3 fellows. Briefly, the mentors were generally positive about their engagement with students as research advisers and hosts for experiments in their labs. The mentors from national labs were especially appreciative of the opportunity to expand the scope of their own research program as a result of these interactions. They also highlighted the effectiveness of pre-program internships in fostering long-term research productivity, as well as the training provided in the corresponding courses such as project management. With regard to improving the program, the industry mentors expressed a desire for clearer expectations regarding their role in mentoring students, particularly when students return to university. A detailed analysis of the feedback provided by industry mentors and its implications for further improving the P3 model, indeed the state of STEM doctoral training, are presented. The conclusions of this study are expected to have broad impact beyond the P3 model as they provide valuable insight into the mutual benefits of industry-university partnership for doctoral education.
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This content will become publicly available on June 1, 2026
Role of industry-university partnership in STEM graduate training: industry mentors’ perspective
Driven by the fact that a great majority of STEM PhD graduates will be employed in non-academic jobs, primarily in industry (defined broadly to include private corporations, national labs, defense organizations, etc.), there is a growing recognition that the present format of doctoral training does not prepare them sufficiently for a career outside academia. In response to this need, recently a new student-centered model of STEM doctorate, Pasteur Partners PhD (P3), was developed based on use-inspired research [3]. Industry-university partnership is a requirement of this model, which calls for concerted participation of industry experts in the training of students through identification of industry-relevant research problems, co-advising about how to approach their practical solutions, and training for other non-technical skills that are crucial for success in industry. An assessment of student demand and their experience with P3’s non-traditional features, support of university administration, and the challenges felt by interested faculty advisers during its implementation at Lehigh University were presented previously. This paper completes P3 program’s assessment by analyzing the feedback provided by industry scientists who have served as co-advisers to students. The specific objective of the present study is to establish not only the benefits to students but also the advantages these collaborations offer to the industry researchers themselves as well as their organizations. Accordingly, we solicited feedback about the experience of the industry co-advisers from serving as mentors of P3 fellows. Briefly, the mentors were generally positive about their engagement with students as research advisers and hosts for experiments in their labs. The mentors from national labs were especially appreciative of the opportunity to expand the scope of their own research program as a result of these interactions. They also highlighted the effectiveness of pre-program internships in fostering long-term research productivity, as well as the training provided in the corresponding courses such as project management. With regard to improving the program, the industry mentors expressed a desire for clearer expectations regarding their role in mentoring students, particularly when students return to university. A detailed analysis of the feedback provided by industry mentors and its implications for further improving the P3 model, indeed the state of STEM doctoral training, are presented. The conclusions of this study are expected to have broad impact beyond the P3 model as they provide valuable insight into the mutual benefits of industry-university partnership for doctoral education.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1806904
- PAR ID:
- 10655242
- Publisher / Repository:
- American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE)
- Date Published:
- ISSN:
- 2153-5965
- Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
- Industry mentors Doctoral training industry-university partnership Co-advising use-inspired research career options
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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