2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Exploring Intercultural Competency Development Among Engineering Graduate Students in Faculty-Run Laboratories

Presented at NSF Grantees Poster Session II

As engineering becomes more global, educators, practitioners, and accrediting bodies have called for engineers who are more competent at working across cultural boundaries. Engineering innovations and designs must be effective across cultural and physical boundaries, meaning that engineers at all levels must obtain intercultural competencies. To date, most initiatives to improve engineers’ intercultural competencies have focused on undergraduate students’ development of these competencies through study abroad and international research experiences. However, there is a gap in research regarding intercultural competency development for graduate-level students. This project works to define and assess the development of intercultural competency in graduate-level engineering spaces, particularly faculty-run laboratories. Faculty-run laboratory spaces are highly multicultural areas of purposeful teamwork, which creates a foundation for competencies to be built within. Posselt’s model for graduate student socialization and Deardorff’s model for intercultural competency are the frameworks used to situate this study.

This project has two distinct phases. The first phase focused on understanding current competencies in graduate students as well as identifying and developing quantitative measures for intercultural competency that are appropriate for this context. Data have been collected through cognitive interviews, n=16, which were intended to assess the suitability of an intercultural competency scale (the Extended Cultural Intelligence Scale, ECQS). We found that existing, open-access instruments were limited in their applicability for this specific context. This finding led us to complete cross-sectional interviews with 61 participants to understand what intercultural competency development currently looks like in faculty-run labs. These data shed light on the need for understanding and developing intercultural competencies at the graduate level and the importance of considering context when deploying scales to assess intercultural competency. The second phase of this project will investigate the development of intercultural competencies in the laboratory space through a nationwide survey and longitudinal study. This work is funded through the NSF program for Research in the Formation of Engineers (RFE).

Authors

Mollie Petersen http://orcid.org/https://0009-0006-8195-8166 University of Nebraska - Lincoln [biography]

Mollie Petersen is a fourth-year mechanical engineering undergraduate student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
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.
Dr. Herman Ronald Clements III http://orcid.org/0009-0002-9165-7173 University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Jiuqing Yu Pennsylvania State University [biography]

Jiuqing Yu is a first-year PhD student 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.
Nosakhare Iyobosa Idiaghe http://orcid.org/https://0000-0003-4152-0267 University of Nebraska - Lincoln [biography]

Nosakhare Idiaghe is a PhD Candidate in Engineering Education Research at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He holds dual master’s degrees in Engineering Management and Industrial Engineering, and a bachelor’s degree in Petroleum Engineering.
Erin Johnson Pennsylvania State University [biography]

Erin Johnson is a PhD student at Pennsylvania State University in Mechanical Engineering. 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
Oluwamayowa Oluwafemi Oluwaniyi University of Nebraska - Lincoln [biography]

PhD Student of Engineering Education Research at University of Nebraska,
Lincoln. He holds a Masters degree in Agricultural and Environmental Engineering and a Bachelors degree in Agricultural
Engineering.
Raymond Nketsiah University of Nebraska - Lincoln [biography]

Raymond Nketsiah is a PhD Student in Engineering Education Research at University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He holds a Masters degree in Education and a Bachelors degree in Chemical Engineering.

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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