2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

STEM graduate education traditionally has focused on developing technical skills that lead to success in the academy. In the past decade, however, STEM graduate students increasingly have sought positions in industry [1]; a recent study by Sherman et al. [2] found that non-academic industry jobs were the most preferred career choice for STEM doctoral students. Despite this preference, graduate education has not adapted to these new career pathways; a significant portion of students lack the critical professional skills, such as project management (PM), that are needed to be effective leaders in these non-academic environments [3-9].
We sought to address the lack of PM training in graduate education through our Innovation in Graduate Education NSF funded project, Graduates for Advancing Professional Skills (GAPS). One component of the project included the development of a one-credit course, Introduction of Project Management for Thesis Research. The course has been offered each semester since Fall, 2020 with a total enrollment of 61 students. During the course, students learned PM skills and then applied these skills to their current research projects. Our theoretical approach to the study was guided by Meyers and Land’s “threshold concept.” A threshold concept represents a new way of interpreting a concept; once the concept is understood, it can be transformative, irreversible, and integrative [10-12]. Students would reach a threshold of PM when they consistently applied these techniques in future projects. In this study we address the question: What influence did the course have on students’ knowledge and application of PM skills?

To address this question, we conducted focus groups of student participants between 3-6 months after the students participated in the course. Our intent was to see if students continued to utilize PM skills after the course. Focus groups included 14 graduate students in engineering from three different semesters. Focus group interviews were transcribed and coded by two members of the research team using a two-cycle method of coding [13]. Data from the focus groups revealed three themes: use of specific techniques, application to current projects, and altering approaches. Students identified specific tools (i.e., software, Gantt charts) that they were utilizing. Students described how they were applying these skills to their current research project. For example, one student explained how they used PM skills in preparing for their preliminary exam. Most critically, students mentioned how utilizing PM techniques altered their approach to projects. One student described the course as “changing my mindset”; another shared how PM improved their approach to research mentioning that instead of feeling like they are “running on a treadmill” they can map a path to progress, “Now there's like an end in sight and here's this six things I need to do to get there.” These findings illustrate that integration of PM skills may be reaching a threshold and that a course focused on PM can address a skills gap needed for a qualified and productive STEM workforce