Mid-career transitions into engineering education research via structured mentorship opportunities: Barriers and perceptions

ABSTRACT

Recent international calls have been made to build capacity in engineering by increasing the number of scholars using research-based instructional practices in engineering classrooms. Training traditional engineering professors to conduct engineering education research (EER) supports this goal. Previous work suggests that engineering professors interested in performing social sciences or educational research require structured support when making this transition. We interviewed 18 professors engaged with a grant opportunity in the United States that supports professors conducting EER for the first time through structured mentorship. Thematic analysis of interview data resulted in four findings describing common perceptions and experiences of traditional engineering professors as they begin to conduct formalised EER: motivation to conduct EER, institutional support and barriers, growth in knowledge, and integrating with EER culture. Within these findings, barriers to entering EER were uncovered with implications for professors interested in EER, funding agencies, and prospective mentors, resulting in suggestions for improving access to EER for professors developing as teaching scholars.

KEYWORDS:

• Mentoring
• faculty development
• qualitative
• Engineering education research
• scholarship of teaching and learning

Acknowledgments

This article builds on several conference papers (Jensen et al., 2020; Jensen et al., 2021; Mirabelli et al., 2020). A companion article describing the mentorship experience for the program described in this study is forthcoming. The authors would like to thank their participants for earnestly sharing their experiences with the NSF RIEF grant. The authors also would like to thank Kurt Mills, an Australian colleague who provided feedback on revisions of this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation [number redacted for review]. Any opinions, findings, or suggestions expressed in this work are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the NSF.

Notes on contributors

Joseph F. Mirabelli

Joseph F. Mirabelli (he/him), doctoral candidate of Educational Psychology at the UIUC, has research interests include doctoral student mental health and retention, engineering culture, and the professional development of engineering educators.

Allyson J. Barlow

Allyson J. Barlow studies human factors in engineering as a Research Scientist at toXcel. After earning her PhD from Oregon State University, she completed a postdoctoral program at University of Nevada Reno.

Jeanne L. Sanders

Jeanne L. Sanders (she/her), Senior Researcher at the University of Michigan, with research interests including mental health, structural change to support social justice, and faculty development.

Evan Ko

Evan Ko earned their bachelor’s degree in Bioengineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is a Clinical Trials Operations Development Program manager at AbbVie.

Karin Jensen

Karin Jensen (she/her) research interests include mental health, wellness, engineering career pathways, and engaging engineering faculty in engineering education research.

Kelly J. Cross

Kelly J. Cross (she/her), is a data-informed, transformational mission-focused culturally responsive practitioner, researcher, and educational leader.