2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

The Emotional Journey of Graduate Adjustment: A Collaborative Autoethnographic

Presented at GSD Session 7: Motivation and Pathways

This method paper is situated within the qualitative and reflexive traditions of engineering education research and contributes to the expanding use of collaborative autoethnography as a rigorous methodological approach. This method highlights subjectivity, the researcher’s influence on the process, and the role of emotions in research. Positioned as a methods paper, this work examines how collaborative autoethnography can be systematically applied and validated to explore the affective and cultural dimensions of graduate education.

Data were generated through multiple reflective sources, including the first author’s reflexive memos and emotional journey artifacts documenting critical moments of transition during her first semester as an international doctoral student in engineering education. These materials served as both narrative data and prompts for collaborative dialogue sessions with the second author, who acted as mentor and co-analyst. Each dialogue was audio-recorded and transcribed, forming an additional data layer that captured the evolving interpretation and mentoring process. The analysis was guided by the Phenomenological Variant of Ecological Systems Theory (PVEST) which emphasizes how individuals navigate stressors, construct meaning, and develop identities through social feedback within specific ecological contexts to link individual meaning-making with institutional and cultural systems. By detailing the iterative cycles of data collection, co-analysis, and theoretical integration, this work extends methodological conversations about reflexive rigor in engineering education research and illustrates how collaborative approaches enhance transparency, trustworthiness, and analytical depth, offering practical insights for designing reflexive studies and fostering deeper researcher–participant engagement.

Preliminary reflections suggest that co-analysis between student and mentor not only deepens the understanding of international student adjustment but also models a relational approach to mentoring that centers emotional awareness. Beyond presenting personal narratives, it demonstrates how collaborative autoethnographic inquiry can serve as a systematic and relational tool for examining emotion, identity, belonging and adjustment in graduate student development within complex academic ecosystems.

Authors

Maria Camila Herrera Palacio University of florida [biography]

Maria Camila Herrera Palacio is a Ph.D. student in Engineering Education at the University of Florida and a member of the ECoPac Lab (Engineering Communities of Practice and Change) led by Dr. Sindia Rivera-Jiménez. Her research examines how graduate students navigate institutional expectations through socio-emotional and relational dimensions of learning, with a focus on mentoring, identity formation, and self-adjustment in doctoral transitions. At UF, she also mentors undergraduate researchers. Before her doctoral studies, Maria Camila served as an adjunct engineering professor at EAFIT University in Medellín, Colombia, and led educational programs for vulnerable communities promoting innovative pedagogical methods. She also worked as a logistics director in the pharmaceutical industry and is the co-founder of TONGO, an educational initiative integrating socio-emotional and disciplinary skills through experiential learning. Her work bridges engineering education, industry experience, and social impact.
Dr. Sindia M. Rivera-Jiménez http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8325-1136 University of Florida [biography]

Dr. Rivera-Jiménez is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Engineering Education (EED) and an affiliate faculty to the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Florida. Her research focuses on understanding the role of engineering communities while enacting their agency in participatory and transformational change. She is particularly interested in broadening the participation of minoritized communities by studying the role of professional development in shaping organizational cultures. As an education practitioner, she also looks at evidence-based practices to incorporate social responsibility skills and collaborative and inclusive teams into the curriculum. Dr. Rivera-Jiménez graduated from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez with a B.S. and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering. She earned an NSF RIEF award recognizing her effort in transitioning from a meaningful ten-year teaching faculty career into engineering education research. Before her current role, she taught STEM courses at diverse institutions such as HSI, community college, and R1 public university.

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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