Influence of Research Experience on Recognition and Identity Development in the Engineering Graduate Student Population

Abstract

This research category Work in Progress study explores the relationship between research experience and engineering identity development in the engineering graduate student population. Preliminary data from a national survey of engineering graduate students is used to explore correlations between research experience and domains of graduate student identity related to being an engineer, scientist, and researcher. Our analysis shows that the recognition subconstruct of researcher and scientist identity domains are significantly positively correlated with research experience. The recognition subconstruct of the engineer identity domain is not significantly correlated with research experience. The future analysis plans beyond correlation are discussed, and implications for the engineering education community are proposed.