Research Initiation: Mapping Identity Development in Doctoral Engineering Students

许多因素影响个人在其选择的工作领域成为有效专业人员的能力。认同感，即自我和归属感，是社会高度重视的一个关键因素。工程专业也不能幸免于这种对个人和集体整体的“自我评价”所产生的焦虑、质疑和机遇。理解“研究人员身份”，即对与成功研究人员的角色相关的关键知识和责任的个人认同，是工程学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、评估和消化有关职业认同形成的几个关键领域，包括职业经验、性别、民族背景、认同形成过程和关键的“自我参照”身份。这些发现可以帮助教育工作者发展对工程研究工作陌生的个人的研究人员身份，并可能有助于改善学生的心理健康、流失率，并弥合毕业率上的性别和民族差异。特别值得注意的是三个关键差距：1)现有关于研究者认同发展主题的纵向研究有限；2)关于博士生研究者认同发展的现有研究有限；以及3)现有关于研究者认同发展过程的研究有限。此外，之前没有任何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。随着在线工程学研究生教育的日益普及，以及通过更多的在线工程学博士课程进一步扩大准入的机会，在线博士生的研究人员身份审查尤其令人感兴趣。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，解决目前工科博士生身份发展过程中的研究空白。它将探索用户体验(UX)方法的应用，作为一种新的研究方法，以产生对工程学博士生发展(或未能发展)其身份的过程/过程的新见解，特别是作为研究人员。它使用现象学数据分析作为其分析框架。四个研究问题是本研究的重点：1)博士生工程认同的发展过程(主要是研究者认同)？2)在校(通常是全日制，通常是传统的)与在线(远程，通常是兼职，通常是非传统的)工科博士生的认同发展过程是否存在差异？3)什么因素(例如性别、民族背景、以前的职业经历等)？影响工程学博士学生的身份发展过程？4)从纵向用户体验(UX)方法产生的见解，如旅程图和其他见解，如何为博士项目设计和评估提供参考？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这一背景下的实用性，以供未来研究之用。通过阐明工科博士生身份发展的过程，这项研究影响了工科博士项目的设计方式，以及这种设计如何改善学生的心理健康、自然流失率，并弥合毕业率上的性别和民族差异，使博士教育成为一条更可行的职业道路。鉴于在线工程学研究生教育的日益流行，以及通过更多的在线工程学博士课程进一步扩大准入的机会，在线博士生中的研究人员身份审查尤其令人感兴趣。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。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.