Presentation
Challenges and Benefits of Applied Experience as an Engineering Returner in a Ph.D. Program
2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
(2017)
Abstract
Returning students, who we define as those PhD students with 5 or more years out of school between their undergraduate and doctoral degrees, represent a largely overlooked pathway through advanced engineering training. Returners contribute to the diversity of perspectives and experiences necessary to address the complex global problems of our contemporary society. Given prior applied work experience in an engineering context, returners are likely to be aware of important engineering problems. Returners’ combination of applied engineering work experience and advanced academic training may position them well to draw on both perspectives in developing innovative engineering solutions. Creative cognition theory suggests that innovation may thrive at intersections, including the combination of ideas from multiple contexts. However, returners represent a relatively small proportion of engineering PhD students and limited research about their experiences suggests they may face particular challenges in their doctoral studies compared to their direct-pathway peers (students who pursue a PhD shortly after their undergraduate education). In an effort to learn more about returners’ perspectives, experiences, research, and approaches to engineering problem solving, our team designed and implemented what is, to our knowledge, the first large-scale mixed-methods study comparing returning and direct-pathway engineering PhD students.
Disciplines
Publication Date
June 25, 2017
Location
Columbus, Ohio
Comments
Graduate Studies Division
© 2017 American Society for Engineering Education
Citation Information
Erika A. Mosyjowski, Shanna R. Daly and Diane L. Peters. "Challenges and Benefits of Applied Experience as an Engineering Returner in a Ph.D. Program" 2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition (2017) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/diane-peters/33/