2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Capturing First- and Second-Year Master’s Engineering Students’ Perceptions of Support in Their Transitions to Graduate School

Presented at Educational Research and Methods Division (ERM) Technical Session 16

The purpose of this research full paper is to investigate issues facing very early-stage master’s students as they transition into a degree program at a large research-intensive university. While there is an increasing focus on graduate and doctoral engineering education, few studies have sought to focus specifically on master’s students, treating them from a research perspective as miniature doctoral students, though it is documented that MS students in engineering have different goals and motivations for pursuing graduate study than PhD students, as well as different anticipated career trajectories. To further compound these gaps in the literature, most studies assume that doctoral students in engineering come from historically privileged socioeconomic backgrounds. National conversations are clear that to broaden participation in engineering, the educational community must attend to the specific needs of students from low-income backgrounds. These students may also not have access to the social and cultural capital required to navigate graduate school, since many are first-generation graduate students and because systems of education are traditionally designed for students from upper class backgrounds. To this end, this study explores the experiences of first-semester graduate students supported in part by funding aimed to support master’s students and have demonstrated unmet financial need. Interviews were conducted with six first- and second-year master’s students and analyzed using thematic analysis methods employing Posselt’s Framework for Doctoral Student Support—here, extended to master’s students—to elicit information about surprises, expectations, and unanticipated issues facing this special population of students. Findings indicate that there are several easily implemented structural modifications programs and faculty can take that can facilitate the transition to graduate school for graduate students, low-income and otherwise.

Authors

Dr. 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.
Dr. Julio Urbina http://orcid.org/https://0000-0001-6281-4905 Pennsylvania State University [biography]

JULIO V. URBINA, Ph.D. is a Professor in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at The Pennsylvania State University.
Dr. Julio Urbina received his BSEE degree from Universidad Nacional de Ingenieria, Lima, Peru, in 1990, and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in 1996 and 2002, respectively. He has worked at Jicamarca Radio Observatory, Arecibo Observatory, and University of Arkansas. Dr. Urbina’s research has used radio and radar technologies to study the Earth’s middle and upper atmosphere. He conducts research in RF and Microwaves, digital systems and space instrumentation, cognitive radars, software-defined radio and radars, sensors, acquisition, drones, UAVs, harmonic radars, reconfigurable instrumentation, meteor radio science, radio wave propagation, space engineering, remote sensing, and radar studies of the ionosphere. In 2011, Dr. Urbina received the National Science Foundation CAREER award for his research on Cognitive Radar systems to study plasma instabilities. Dr. Urbina has received numerous federal grants for studies related to mentoring low-income undergraduate and graduate students, radar remote sensing of the Earth, satellite systems, wirelessly networks, ground and space instrumentation and observations, and tracking pollinators. His educational research interests include effective teaching techniques for enhancing engineering education, global engineering and international perspectives, thinking and working in multi-, inter-, and transdisciplinary ways, cyberlearning and cyber-environments, service and experiential learning, mentoring, peer-mentoring, teaming and collaborative learning.
Prof. Reginald F. Hamilton http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3001-1790 Pennsylvania State University
Dr. Catherine L. Cohan Pennsylvania State University [biography]

Catherine Cohan, Ph.D. has been a research psychologist for over 20 years. Her areas of expertise include engineering education, retention of underrepresented students, measurement, and assessment. She is currently an Assistant Research Professor and coor
Dr. Tonya L. Peeples http://orcid.org/https://0000-0003-0721-9622 Pennsylvania State University [biography]

Professor Tonya Peeples joined the Penn State College of Engineering in August of 2018, as the Inaugural Associate Dean for Equity and Inclusion and Professor of Chemical Engineering. Prior to joining Penn State she worked at the University of Iowa and i
Dr. Cynthia Howard Reed http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9449-2795 Pennsylvania State University [biography]

Cindy Howard Reed is the Director of Graduate and Postdoc Equity and an Associate Teaching Professor in the College of Engineering at Penn State. She has a MS in Environmental Health Engineering and PhD in Civil Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin and received her BS in Civil Engineering from North Carolina State University. Prior to her position at Penn State, Dr. Reed conducted research in the field of indoor air quality at the Environmental Progection Agency and National Institute of Standards and Technology.

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