2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

A National Science Foundation Research Traineeship (NRT) that is currently in its sixth (no-cost extension) year aims to enhance graduate education by integrating research and professional skill development within a diverse, inclusive, and supportive academy. This NRT aims to enhance graduate student preparation for employment in the public and private sectors – i.e., academia, government, nonprofit, and industry – through training that integrates education, research, and professional development with multiple experiential activities that expose trainees to a diverse array of individuals, sites, and organizations representing various career options.

This contribution will describe the career exploration offerings of this NRT, which is focused on Innovations at the Nexus of Food, Energy, and Water Systems (INFEWS). In addition, this contribution will share the experiences and perspectives of program graduates and their post-graduation supervisors. In so doing, this contribution will address an important gap in the literature, which is scant of reports dealing with the post-graduation outcomes of graduate traineeships in STEM due to the challenges inherent to performing this type of longitudinal inquiry.

Career development in this NRT included a four-pronged approach that spanned the entirety of the graduate program and included 1) transferable skill development; 2) interdisciplinary research; 3) career and research symposia; as well as 4) field trips, internships, and international opportunities. Evaluation of these interventions was conducted across time via pre-, post-, and follow-up surveys with corresponding measures and via focus groups. In this contribution, both assessment and outcomes will be discussed.

In addition to the survey and focus group data, interviews of graduates from this NRT on INFEWS provided retrospective thoughts on the perceived influence of each career development intervention. Purposive sampling was conducted to represent diverse career pathways and employment settings of NRT graduates who were asked to discuss which experiences were most and least impactful as well as their goals for continued professional growth. Employers were asked to provide general comments from a global perspective on preparedness and professionalism of NRT graduates.