2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Burnout: The Cost of Masking Neurodiversity in Graduate STEM Programs

Presented at Promoting Well-Being in Engineering Education: Strategies and Perspectives

A growing body of literature suggests that neurodivergent individuals, such as those with autism, dyslexia, and ADHD possess unique abilities that may be assets in STEM fields. Despite the potential of neurodivergent students to leverage these abilities to contribute to innovation in their field, they face a multitude of barriers and difficulties as they navigate rigid educational environments. While there has been research on the strengths and challenges of neurodivergent STEM students at the undergraduate level, there is a lack of studies at the graduate level. This paper details findings from a qualitative study on the experiences of neurodivergent graduate students within their STEM programs. Findings from a series of 10 focus groups suggest that neurodivergent students face pressure to mask their neurodiversity-related traits and hide the challenges that they often face within their graduate program. Neurodivergent students often experience variations in attention, motivation, time management, and other elements of executive function; these variations may pose distinct challenges for neurodivergent students as they shoulder heavy workloads while attempting to maintain a healthy work-life balance. The findings from this study suggest that the additional pressure placed on neurodivergent graduate students to mask their experiences contributes to an unacknowledged cognitive and emotional load that may significantly impact their mental health in the form of anxiety and burnout. These findings have implications within the context of the advisor-advisee relationship, as variations in advising practices and communication styles may impact graduate students’ perceived need to mask their neurodivergence. This paper aims to highlight the neurodivergent students’ experiences with masking and the mental health challenges that neurodivergent students face as they navigate the demands of graduate-level STEM programs. It is anticipated that these findings may foster the adoption of inclusive advising practices for faculty advisors and program administrators and to enhance the educational experiences of neurodivergent students in graduate STEM programs.

Authors

Ms. Connie Mosher Syharat http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7913-863X University of Connecticut [biography]

Connie Mosher Syharat is a Ph.D. student in Curriculum and Instruction and a Research Assistant at the University of Connecticut as a part of two neurodiversity-centered NSF-funded projects, Revolutionizing Engineering Departments (NSF:RED) "Beyond Accommodation: Leveraging Neurodiversity for Engineering Innovation" and Innovations in Graduate Education (NSF:IGE) Encouraging the Participation of Neurodiverse Students in STEM Graduate Programs to Radically Enhance the Creativity of the Professional Workforce". In her time at the University of Connecticut she has also has served as Program Assistant for a summer program in engineering for middle school students with ADHD. Previously, she spent eight years as a K-12 teacher in Connecticut, where she maintained a focus on providing a varied learning environment and differentiated instruction for all types of learners. She received her Master’s Degree in Modern Languages from Central Connecticut State University in 2011. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Hispanic Studies and her teaching certificate from Connecticut College in 2001. She is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in Curriculum and Instruction at UConn's Neag School of Education.
Dr. Alexandra Hain University of Connecticut [biography]

Alexandra Hain is an Assistant Professor at the University of Connecticut in structural engineering. She received her PhD in Structural Engineering in 2019 from the University of Connecticut. She has an interest in engineering education and workforce development.
Prof. Arash Esmaili Zaghi P.E. http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2246-2911 University of Connecticut [biography]

Arash E. Zaghi is a Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Connecticut. In 2009, he received his PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of Nevada, Reno. After he was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) at age 33, he began engineering education research aimed at highlighting the importance of neurodiversity for the creativity of our nation’s engineering workforce by promoting a fundamentally strength-based perspective toward diversity. He started his engineering education research endeavor through an NSF RIGEE grant in 2014. The promising findings of this research and the encouraging feedback of the student community motivated him to pursue this line of research in his NSF CAREER award in 2017. Since then, he has built a coalition within the university to expand this work through multiple NSF-funded research grants including IUSE/PFE: RED titled “Innovation Beyond Accommodation: Leveraging Neurodiversity for Engineering Innovation”. Because of the importance of neurodiversity at all levels of education, he expanded his work to graduate STEM education through an NSF IGE grant. In addition, he recently received his Mid-CAREER award through which, in a radically novel approach, he will take on ambitious, transdisciplinary research integrating artificial intelligence, neuroscience, and education research to advance a personalized tool to enhance the participation of middle-school students with dyslexia in STEM disciplines. His efforts on promoting neurodiversity in engineering has been twice recognized by Prism Magazine of the American Society of Engineering Education.
Catherine G. P. Berdanier http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3271-4836 Pennsylvania State University [biography]

Catherine G.P. Berdanier is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Pennsylvania State University. She earned her B.S. in Chemistry from The University of South Dakota, her M.S. in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering and her PhD in Engineering Education from Purdue University. Her research expertise lies in characterizing graduate-level attrition, persistence, and career trajectories; engineering writing and communication; and methodological development.

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