2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

How Engineering Graduate Students Experience Growth and Fixed Mindset in Complex Research Environment

Presented at Graduate Education

This research full paper investigates how growth and fixed mindset manifest in engineering graduate student experiences and how lab environments shape those enactments. While literature shows how students frame and navigate problems (e.g., through growth mindset) can support learning and persistence, little is known about how growth and fixed mindsets manifest in the lived experiences of engineering graduate students, particularly in the context of stressors in research environments where PhD students spend most of their time. As part of a larger study, we distributed a national survey to graduate engineering students from the top 50 U.S. doctoral programs, which included growth mindset survey items, and conducted follow-up interviews with n = 61 graduate students. From this corpus, we employed extreme group sampling to investigate the interviews of the participants with the five highest growth mindset scores and five with the lowest scores. We developed a qualitative codebook and analyzed students’ research lab narratives through seven major codes. Our findings show that growth and fixed oriented beliefs coexist within individuals and vary across situations. For example, even strongly growth-scored students sometimes expressed outward fixed beliefs about others, while some fixed-scored students described developmental shifts and growth-oriented strategies. Secondly, we show that research lab culture functions as a boundary condition on mindset enactment. (e.g., strict lab cultures push growth-oriented students towards fixed behaviors.) This study is one of the first to qualitatively operationalize growth and fixed mindsets in graduate engineering education. Further implications from this study could inform advisor training, lab management practices, and departmental support to foster resilience and persistence among graduate students.

Authors

Jiuqing Yu Pennsylvania State University [biography]

Jiuqing Yu is a PhD candidate in Mechanical Engineering at Pennsylvania State University, working under the advisement of Dr. Catherine Berdanier in the Engineering Cognitive Research Laboratory (ECRL). She previously earned a Master of Philosophy in Industrial Systems, Manufacture, and Management from the University of Cambridge and completed her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering at Pennsylvania State University.
Samantha Splendido Pennsylvania State University [biography]

Samantha Splendido is a Ph.D. candidate in Mechanical Engineering at Pennsylvania State University. She is currently a graduate research assistant under Dr. Catherine Berdanier in the Engineering Cognitive Research Laboratory (ECRL) and a graduate teaching fellow in the Penn State Department of Mechanical Engineering. Samantha earned her B.S. in Biomedical and Mechanical Engineering and her M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Pennsylvania State University. She was also awarded the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Graduate Teaching Fellowship for the 2025-26 academic year.
Erin Johnson Pennsylvania State University [biography]

Erin Johnson is a PhD candidate at Pennsylvania State University in Mechanical Engineering and NSF Graduate Research Fellow. She is under the advisement of Dr. Catherine Berdanier. She completed her undergraduate degree at Tuskegee University and a Master's degree at Pennsylvania State University
Nosakhare Iyobosa Idiaghe http://orcid.org/https://0000-0003-4152-0267 University of Nebraska - Lincoln [biography]

Idiaghe Nosakhare is a PhD Student of Engineering Education Research at University of Nebraska, Lincoln. He holds a Masters degree in Industrial Engineering and a Bachelors degree in Petroleum Engineering.
Dr. Jessica R Deters http://orcid.org/https://0000-0001-8766-9548 University of Nebraska - Lincoln [biography]

Dr. Jessica Deters is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Discipline Based Education Researcher at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln. She holds her Ph.D. in Engineering Education and M.S. in Systems Engineering from Virginia Tech and a B.S. in Applied Mathematics and Statistics from Colorado School of Mines. Her research focuses on engineering culture, workplace preparedness and career trajectories of undergraduate and graduate students, and student well-being. She is the recipient of the Harold and Esther Edgerton Junior Faculty Award, Henry Y. Kleinkauf Family Distinguished New Faculty Teaching Award, and the UNL University Distinguished Teaching Award.
Catherine G. P. Berdanier http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3271-4836 The 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.

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 21, 2026, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 24, 2026

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