Free ticketed event
Aimed at both potential and current postdoctoral scholars, and current and future postdoctoral advisors, this workshop will leverage three years of NSF-funded research results investigating mentorship in engineering and computer science postdocs and postdoc mentors. The session will generate community-wide discussion and promote individual reflection on the postdoctoral fellowship.
The facilitators will guide prospective mentors and mentees in considering often-overlooked questions and considerations in developing postdoctoral mentoring plans. Such plans are becoming required for grant submissions, but often are underused in shaping and supporting the experiences of postdoctoral scholars.
Dr. Matthew Bahnson is a postdoctoral scholar at Penn State under Dr. Catherine Berdanier. He holds experience in
psychology and engineering graduate education research. Matthew s current research focuses on graduate attrition
and postdoctoral mentorship experiences. He recently completed his Ph.D. in Applied Social and Community
Psychology at North Carolina State University. Previously, he completed a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at the
University of Northern Iowa and a Master of Arts in Social Sciences at the University of Chicago. He has participated in
various research projects examining engineering identity, discrimination, and graduate student attrition in graduate
education. His research has been published in Journal of Engineering Education, International Journal of Engineering
Education, along with numerous conference venues and journals.
Dr. Catherine Berdanier is Dr. Bahnson s postdoctoral mentor. She currently holds positions as Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering and the
Shuman Family Early Career Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Pennsylvania State University, where she is the Director of the Engineering Cognitive
Research Laboratory (ECRL). Catherine earned her B.S. in Chemistry from The University of South Dakota, her M.S. in Aeronautical and Astronautical
Engineering and Ph.D. in Engineering Education from Purdue University. Her research interests include graduate-level engineering education including doctoral
student attrition and persistence; engineering writing; and engineering communication. Her research has been published in Journal of Engineering Education,
International Journal of Engineering Education, IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, and many other journal and conference venues. She is the
winner of an NSF CAREER grant studying master s-level departure from the engineering doctorate and is the author of the text So, You Have to Write a
Literature Review: A Guided Workbook for Engineers (IEEE/Wiley Press.)
Dr. Monique Ross is an Associate Professor in the Engineering Education Department at The Ohio State University. She earned a B.S. in Computer
Engineering from Elizabethtown College, M.S. in Computer Science and Software Engineering from Auburn University, and doctoral degree in Engineering
Education from Purdue University. Her research focuses on broadening participation in computing by exploring: 1) race, gender, and identity in the academy
and industry; and 2) discipline-based education research to inform pedagogical practices that garner interest and retain women and minorities in
computer-related engineering fields. Her research has been published in Journal of Engineering Education, ACM Transactions on Computing Education, and
many other journal and conference venues. She is the winner of an NSF CAREER grant studying the pathways to and through computer science of Black and
Latiné women.