Research Initiation: Mapping Identity Development in Doctoral Engineering Students

许多因素影响着个人在他们选择的工作领域成为有效的专业人士的能力。身份，即自我和归属感，是社会上受到高度重视的一个关键因素。工程专业并非不受这种对个人和集体整体的“自我评估”所产生的焦虑、质疑和机会的影响。理解“研究者身份”，即与成功研究者角色相关的关键知识和责任的个人认同，是工程博士生教育和管理的重要焦点。然而，对博士生形成职业认同的过程的了解是有限的。本研究探讨、评估并总结了与职业身份形成有关的几个关键领域，包括职业经历、性别、种族背景、身份形成过程和关键的“自我参照”标识符。这些发现可以帮助教育工作者发展对工程研究工作的新个体的研究者身份，并可能有助于改善学生的心理健康，流失率，弥合毕业率方面的性别和种族差距。特别令人感兴趣的是三个关键缺口：1)现有的关于研究者身份发展主题的纵向研究有限；2)对博士生研究者认同发展的研究有限；3)对研究者认同发展过程的研究有限。此外，之前没有研究涉及在校博士生和在线博士生在身份发展方面的潜在差异。随着在线研究生工程教育的日益普及，以及通过额外的在线工程博士课程进一步扩大访问的机会，对在线博士生的研究人员身份的审查特别令人感兴趣。在实现这些目标的过程中，本研究将为学生、教育工作者和研究人员创造巨大的利益。该项目将通过在一所大型州立大学实施纵向研究，解决目前工程博士生身份发展过程中的研究空白。它将探索用户体验（UX）方法作为一种新颖的研究方法的应用，以产生对过程/过程的新见解，通过这些过程/过程，工程博士生发展（或未能发展）他们的身份，特别是作为研究人员。它以现象学数据分析作为分析框架。四个研究问题提供了本研究的重点：1)博士生的工程身份（主要是研究员身份）的发展过程是什么？2)在校（通常是全日制，通常是传统的）和在线（远程，通常是兼职，通常是非传统的）工程博士生在身份发展过程中存在什么差异？3)哪些因素（如性别、民族背景、以前的职业经历等）影响工程博士生的身份发展过程？4)纵向用户体验（UX）方法产生的见解，如旅程地图和其他见解，如何为博士课程设计和评估提供信息？除了提供关于博士生研究人员身份发展过程的研究结果外，该项目还验证了用户体验方法在此背景下的实用性，以供未来研究之用。通过阐明工程博士生身份发展的过程，本研究影响了工程博士课程的设计方式，以及这种设计如何改善学生的心理健康、流失率、弥合毕业率上的性别和种族差距，使博士教育成为更可行的职业道路。鉴于在线研究生工程教育的日益普及，以及通过额外的在线工程博士课程进一步扩大访问的机会，对在线博士生的研究人员身份的检查尤其令人感兴趣。在追求这些目标的过程中，这项研究将为学生、教育工作者、研究人员和整个社会创造巨大的利益。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

A multitude of factors affect the ability of individuals to become effective professionals in their chosen field of work. Identity, the sense of self and belonging, is one critical factor receiving heightened emphasis in society. The engineering profession is not immune to the angst, inquiry and opportunity that this “evaluation of self,” both at the individual and collective whole, has created. Understanding “researcher identity,” the personal identification with the critical knowledge and responsibilities associated with the role of being a successful researcher, is important focal point in both the education and management of engineering doctoral students. Yet knowledge of the process by which doctoral students develop their professional identity is limited. This study addresses, evaluates, and digests several critical areas of concern regarding professional identity formation, including professional experiences, gender, ethnoracial background, identity formation process, and critical “self-referential” identifiers. The findings can assist educators in the development of researcher identity of individuals that are new to the engineering research endeavor, and may help improve student mental health, attrition rates, and bridge the gender and ethnoracial gaps in graduation rates. Of particular interest are three key gaps: 1) the limited existing longitudinal research on the topic of researcher identity development; 2) the limited existing research on researcher identity development in doctoral students, and 3) the limited existing research on the process of researcher identity development. Further, no previous research has addressed potential differences in identity development between on-campus and online doctoral students. With the growing popularity of online graduate engineering education, and opportunities to further expand access through additional online engineering doctoral programs, examination of researcher identity in online doctoral students is of particular interest. In pursuing these aims, this research will create great benefit for students, educators, researchers.The project will address current research gaps in the process of engineering doctoral student identity development by implementing a longitudinal study at a large state university. It will explore the application of user experience (UX) methods as a novel research approach to generate new insights on the process/processes through which engineering doctoral students develop (or fail to develop) their identities, specifically as researchers. It uses phenomenological data analysis as its analytical framework. Four research questions provide the focus for this research: 1) What is the process of developing engineering identity in doctoral students (primarily, researcher identity)? 2) What differences, if any, exist in the process of identity development for on campus (usually full-time, usually traditional) vs. online (distance, usually part-time, usually non-traditional) doctoral engineering students? 3) What factors (e.g., gender, ethnoracial background, previous professional experience, etc.) influence the identity development process for doctoral engineering students? 4) How can the insights generated from longitudinal user experience (UX) methods, such as journey mapping, and other insights, inform doctoral program design and assessment? In addition to providing the findings on the process of researcher identity development in doctoral students, the project validates the utility of UX methods in this context for the purposes of future research. By illuminating the processes of engineering doctoral student identity development, this research impacts the way engineering doctoral programs are designed and how this design may improve student mental health, attrition rates, and bridge the gender and ethnoracial gaps in graduation rates, making doctoral education a more viable career path. Given the growing popularity of online graduate engineering education, and opportunities to further expand access through additional online engineering doctoral programs, examination of researcher identity in online doctoral students is of particular interest. In pursuing these aims, this research will create significant benefit for students, educators, researchers, and society as a whole.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.