2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This work-in-progress, evidence-based practice paper describes the design, activities, and preliminary results of a three-year, collaborative NSF research project. Traditional science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) graduate training is known to focus more on developing content-related expertise and less on cultivating belonging and identity-related views critical to retention in STEM programs and professions. We address this gap with a cohort-based intervention in which volunteer STEM graduate student participants learn and apply storytelling techniques by sharing true personal stories about themselves. Participant efforts culminate in a storytelling performance designed to reinforce their professional identity and belonging and mitigate stereotypes associated with STEM professionals.

In this work, our multi-institutional team engages graduate student participants in an active story-telling intervention in collaboration with The Story Collider, a national non-profit organization. Together, we aim to develop, implement, assess, refine, and transfer a scalable story-telling intervention able to bolster professional identity and sense of belonging, and reduce feelings of impostorism, among STEM graduate students. Our work is grounded in theories of narrative identity, reflection, and cognitive consistency; our focal outcomes are guided by Self Determination Theory’s three basic human needs of autonomy (identity), relatedness (belongingness), and competence (imposter feelings). Methodologically, we employ a Design-based Research approach to iteratively implement, assess, and refine the intervention. Mixed method data generation includes a tailored pre/post Likert scale survey developed from existing instruments measuring engineering identity, belonging, and impostorism and post intervention semi-structured participant interviews. Additionally, we employ an analysis of narratives approach to analyze participants’ stories to answer the following research question:

(1) What are thematic and structural characteristics of personal narratives that students write
about their experiences in STEM graduate education and how do they relate to education relate to (a) professional identity, (b) sense of belonging in their graduate program, and (c) feelings of being an impostor?

During Year 1, we implemented the story-telling intervention with two graduate student cohorts (approximately 50 graduate students in total) enrolled at the lead institution. We generated pre/post mixed-methods data with participants to enable curriculum assessment and refinement relative to its usability and progress toward targeted outcomes. In Year 2, we are employing Year 1 assessment data to refine the curriculum in preparation for its implementation in spring 2025 with two new cohorts at the lead institution. We are also engaging in and documenting training to develop capacity across the two institutions to facilitate the program in Year 3, without the aid of Story Collider personnel, at both institutions.

Preliminary findings Year 1 pre/post survey responses indicate post-intervention improvements in STEM and researcher identities (as hypothesized), slight declines in belonging (inconsistent with hypotheses), and marginal decreases in impostorism (as hypothesized). Post-program qualitative interview data suggest participants perceived the intervention as beneficial and expressed interest in expanding the program to faculty, undergraduate students, and non-STEM fields. The WIP paper will report on findings from the complete dataset, including intervention improvements made for its 2nd implementation in Spring 2025, and emerging themes from narrative analysis of Year 1 participants’ stories.