2023 Collaborative Network for Computing and Engineering Diversity (CoNECD)

Little is known about how black engineering students experience graduate engineering programs, and even less is known about how they experience the transitions between undergraduate and graduate engineering education. Common graduate student challenges can be further exacerbated when microaggressions, prejudice, and systemic racial barriers are daily experiences, as they are in the case of many Black graduate students attending historically white institutions (HWI). This work explores how different aspects of the black academic experience can converge to impact the experiences of Black doctoral students during their matriculations from undergraduate to graduate studies. The research question addressed by this work is: How do Black engineering students experience the shift in institutional type when transitioning to a graduate program at an HWI from an undergraduate program at an HBCU? This study utilizes narrative interview methodology to capture stories of the lived experience of Black graduate students in engineering. Specifically, there were three inclusion criteria for participants: (1) they had to identify as Black, and (2) be a graduate student currently enrolled in a doctoral program in engineering at a historically white institution in the United States, and (3) attended an HBCU for undergraduate engineering studies. a phenomenographic lens was used during the analysis process to organize and code salient themes identified in the interviews. Pilot study results show that through the process of transitioning from an HBCU, an environment where participants felt valued, and supported, to an HWI for graduate studies brought about a feeling of “culture shock”. Having to reform systems of support that provided ample resources for their success was a necessary undertaking for the participants because they were used to the types of support available at the HBCU. Faculty and advisor relations were also very impactful in the process of socializing Black doctoral students in the academy. Understanding the process of how these students identify, and address difficulties and stressors during their transitional period from undergraduate studies to graduate studies in engineering could be particularly insightful in developing effective countermeasures for falling enrollment and persistence rates of Black students in engineering graduate programs.