2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Doctoral students who choose an academic career path will essentially be required to teach courses. However, literature says most doctoral students have more research experience than teaching experience. Additionally, the teaching experience they have is through their graduate teaching assistantships, which may or may not have associated training on how to teach. Teaching can be difficult if you are not fully aware of the different dimensions associated with it. Engineering doctoral students who look to enter academia after graduation are incentivized to take a research-first career, though they likely would also be in instructional positions. However, some doctoral students go out of their way to gain experience as course instructors. This research project aims at understanding engineering doctoral students’ expectations, reflections, and concerns regarding future in academia. To understand engineering doctoral students’ expectations, reflections, and concerns regarding future in academia, a survey instrument was designed with questions pertaining to participants’ expectations and concerns for a career in academia, interpersonal interactions’ influence on their teaching preparedness, and help from their PhD program in teaching preparedness. The survey was distributed in Fall 2023 and 228 completed the survey. The data collection is in process and will be completed soon.

Preliminary analysis revealed the following. Participants who preferred a career in academia expressed the expectation that they would generally be working in both research and academia and provide some service to the university. Some expressed hopes for working in research primarily, including hopes for working at a top university, but a few did specify that they hoped to work at an R2 institution to have an opportunity to have a greater focus to teach, which echoed some of the goals of participants in previous literature. Some described a broader expectation of an open environment or a potentially stressful environment. Most participants described being influenced by either experiences with mentors, peers, and/or other instructors as having influenced their process of preparation, though a large portion of respondents specified that interactions with instructors influenced their process of preparation, but not peers or mentors. Many respondents described their experiences in seeking and receiving feedback as a TA from both peers and mentors as beneficial. A few respondents stated that no one has helped them prepare. Regarding concerns for a career in academia, many expressed worries regarding the pressures of research, potential lacking in work-life balance, low salaries, and the difficulties of finding a faculty position. Additionally, some expressed concerns regarding the culture of academia; including factors such as gender and ethnic biases, the competitive nature of seeking funding in research, having the resources to adequately support students, and discovering how their branch of study will fit within the boundaries of the university.