2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

The Innovations in Graduate Education (IGE) project seeks to strengthen professional identity, promote belonging, and reduce impostorism among STEM graduate students. Recognizing that STEM graduate education often prioritizes technical expertise over personal and social development, this project introduces a cohort-based storytelling program designed to humanize the graduate experience. Participants learn and apply storytelling methods through the creation and performance of personal narratives informed by narrative identity, reflection, and cognitive consistency theories. Grounded in Self-Determination Theory, the initiative addresses the core human needs of autonomy (identity), relatedness (belonging), and competence (confidence and impostor feelings). In collaboration with a national nonprofit organization specializing in science storytelling, the project supports the IGE mission to innovate and improve STEM graduate education. Through stories about discovery, fitting in, and overcoming doubt, students engage deeply with the social and emotional dimensions of their STEM journeys. The overarching goal is to develop, implement, and evaluate a scalable storytelling curriculum that can be widely shared to foster positive cultural change in STEM education.

The project is guided by three main hypotheses: first, that storytelling pedagogy enhances STEM graduate students’ professional identity and sense of belonging while reducing impostorism; second, that storytelling decreases stereotypes about STEM professionals; and third, that personal storytelling performances improve graduate student retention and ease the transition into STEM careers. To test these hypotheses, the research follows four primary objectives: developing a storytelling curriculum (completed in Year 2); implementing the curriculum with graduate students (completed in Years 1 and 2, with continuation in Year 3); assessing the impact of storytelling performances on students and audiences (ongoing); and sharing the curriculum and resulting stories through open-access platforms, workshops, and webinars. Using a mixed-methods approach, the research explores three central questions: What are the thematic and structural features of the personal narratives students create about their STEM experiences? How does storytelling influence professional identity, belonging, and impostor feelings? And how do the qualities of these narratives shape identity, belonging, and perceptions of impostorism?

Findings from 70 complete participant cases revealed statistically significant gains in both STEM and researcher identity. Results also showed a modest decline in perceived social fit, contrary to the initial hypothesis, and a small but nonsignificant reduction in impostorism, consistent with expectations. Audience feedback from the most recent storytelling performance, measured through the Warmth and Competence Scale and the Nerd-Genius Stereotype Scale, indicated no change in perceived competence but significant increases in perceived warmth and reductions in “nerd-genius” stereotypes. Although this outcome was not originally hypothesized, it suggests that storytelling may help improve public perceptions of scientists’ warmth, offering a new avenue for exploration. Qualitative interviews with graduate participants revealed enhanced communication skills, stronger belonging, and reduced impostor feelings. Participants described the workshops as valuable and recommended expanding them to faculty, undergraduate students, and even non-STEM fields. Supported by the NSF’s Division of Graduate Education, this collaborative IGE project represents an innovative and evidence-based approach to enriching STEM graduate education through storytelling as a transformative tool for identity formation, belonging, and cultural change.