2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

In this theory/method paper, we report on the design and implementation of a two-interview approach within a Narrative Inquiry framework to study how early career engineers make sense of their experiences in becoming professional engineers and how they reflect on that process. Drawing on Dewey’s theory of experience (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000), and Polkinghorne’s (1988) framing of narratives as temporally meaningful stories, Narrative Inquiry provides a lens for examining how experiences across time shape professional identity development. It is both an epistemological stance and a methodological orientation that emphasizes storied ways of knowing and positions researchers and participants as co-constructors of meaning.
Our methodological aim was to design interviews capable of addressing two central research questions emerging from our larger study: (1) How do early career engineers story their understanding of what it means to be an engineer at different points along the student-to-practitioner trajectory? and (2) What features of these stories can inform the development of a conceptual model of professional engineering identity (PEI) reflection to support current engineering students? We also sought to design interviews that worked as interventionist tools, engaging participants to question assumptions, challenge previously articulated views, and consider new perspectives during the interview process.
We employed two interviews with each participant to capture and deepen narratives of PEI development. The first interview followed a two-phase format: narration phase, in which participants recounted extended, uninterrupted stories spanning their path into engineering, undergraduate experiences, transition to practice, and current roles; and a discussion phase, in which we probed critical moments, clarified details, and surfaced early reflections. The second interview employed a reflective emancipatory interviewing approach prompting participants to reconsider their narratives, interrogate assumptions, explore tensions between current and possible selves, and identify moments of reflection. This design deliberately positioned reflection as an outcome of the research process, creating “flickers of transformation” through dialogic exchange.
To strengthen reflexivity, we also applied the Interview Quality Reflection Tool (IQRT), refining the protocol to enhance experiential quality. This process increased our self-awareness as interviewers and supported the design of prompts that encouraged deeper, more critical forms of reflection.
This paper contributes to methodological scholarship in engineering education by detailing our interview design used to construct narratives while reinforcing reflective thinking. By integrating narration, discussion, and reflective emancipatory approaches, we demonstrate how narrative inquiry can move beyond description to foster critical reflection and potentially transformative learning. More broadly, this work highlights the methodological potential of narrative inquiry for designing research approaches that not only study but can be interventionist with the potential to facilitate participant reflection and support the ongoing construction of professional engineering identity.