ENE Research Seminar: Interrogating Covert Mechanisms of Surviving, Thriving, and Attrition in Engineering Graduate Students
| Event Date: | December 4, 2025 |
|---|---|
| Speaker: | Catherine Berdanier, PhD |
| Speaker Affiliation: | Pennsylvania State University |
| Type: | Research Seminar |
| Time: | 3:30-4:20 p.m. |
| Location: | WANG 3501 |
| Open To: | Graduate and undergraduate students, staff, and faculty with an interest in educating engineers |
| Priority: | No |
| School or Program: | Engineering Education |
| College Calendar: | Show |
For the high-flex option, register in advance. You will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Title:
Interrogating Covert Mechanisms of Surviving, Thriving, and Attrition in Engineering Graduate Students: Crossdisciplinary Impact of Engineering Education Research and Practice in the Disciplines
Abstract:
Amid increasing tensions in federal funding, foundational research, and the academy, engineering graduate students continue to be a critical part of the research enterprise and represent future thought leadership in both academia and industry. Historically, though, the limited literature on graduate engineering students documents often-harrowing experiences that show deep disenfranchisement. Attrition rates in engineering are stealthy, with (albeit outdated) estimates of students leaving their programs of study ranging from 24%-36% for men and women, respectively, with attrition numbers over 50% for students from historically marginalized racial and ethnic groups. Attrition—and even the emotional duress invested in considering leaving regardless whether students leave their programs of study—is costly from the point of view students, faculty, universities, and project sponsors. Over the past ten years, my research group at Penn State has systematically investigated multiple facets of the complex ecosystem of doctoral education as both an educational space and a workspace, with ramifications for other groups both upstream (undergraduate researchers) and downstream (postdoctoral scholars, faculty) from the graduate academic environment.
As I highlight findings from multiple funded research projects, including my NSF CAREER grant, I will also “pull back the curtain” for current graduate students in the audience to show how research unfolds as a mix of strategic, intentional planning and serendipity. I also demonstrate the value of leveraging both traditional engineering and human subjects research expertise as I conduct novel and impactful work, question assumptions in education, and advance methods and theory. Being embedded in a traditional engineering department ensures that my research can be immediately impactful and relevant to real “pinch points,” and affords situated empathy with the multiple stakeholders often positioned as adversaries within the academic ecosystem.
Bio:
Dr. Berdanier's Purdue College of Engineering 38 by 38 honoree profile.