Background: Postdoctoral training holds an increasingly important place in preparation for leading academic and research positions. While little empirical research has described postdoctoral training beyond the sciences, across all fields, "misaligned expectations" are often touted as a key source of postdoctoral strife.…

This report presents an overview of research and development (R&D) in science and engineering (S&E) fields performed at institutions of higher education in the United States, including historical trends and recent patterns. The report first examines the financing and performance of R&D at universities based on patterns in funding and…

Purpose: This study aims to explore the perceptions of a diverse set of 16 engineering postdoctoral scholars regarding their fit for the professoriate. The professoriate speaks to the body of tenured/tenure-track faculty within higher education institutions. Design/methodology/approach: An intrinsic case study design was conducted to provide an…

As a practical theory of language, translanguaging refers not only to speakers' use of multiple languages, but also to the deployment of other semiotic resources and artifacts in communication. To examine the use of semiotic resources and translingual negotiation strategies in STEM communication, this study explores the intersectionality of…

A descriptive phenomenological research design using a socialisation theoretical framework is employed to describe the lived experience of socialisation and its influence in the career pathways of 16 engineering postdoctoral scholars. Descriptive phenomenological data analysis strategies resulted in four constituents regarding effective…

Background: The number of engineering PhDs pursuing postdoctoral research scholar (postdoc) positions has steadily increased in the last 30 years. Postdoc positions are commonly thought of as a step toward academic careers. However, engineering PhDs are more likely to work in industry, which leaves open the question of the role of postdocs in the…

The driving force behind research in many countries is funding for research and development. The research at postgraduate level is predicated on a core research group championed by one principal investigator which might include staff scientists, postdoctoral appointees, non-faculty doctorate researchers, or graduate students and they play major…

The topic of interdisciplinarity has attracted interest and attention in academia for several decades. The intention behind interdisciplinarity is that bringing together experts from different disciplines--who have different knowledge and skills but shared interests or goals--will generate innovative ideas and novel approaches to societal and…

The COVID-19 pandemic triggered considerable shifts in enrollment patterns for both U.S. citizens and permanent residents and temporary visa-holding graduate students within science, engineering, and health (SEH) fields during the fall 2020. After 3 years of relative stability, full-time enrollment of temporary visa holders in SEH master's…

Engineering ethics education typically focuses on decisions by individual engineers and case studies of disasters. This does not reflect the everyday decisions that practicing engineers must make, and neglects the fact that most engineers work on teams rather than alone. The focus on safety and disaster prevention leaves little time for discussing…

On December 7 and 8, 2020, the Roundtable on Black Men and Black Women in Science, Engineering, and Medicine of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened a virtual workshop that examined how to strengthen mentoring and advising of Black students and professionals in science, engineering, and medicine. Presenters…

Time-honoured university policies, such as the credit-hour and academic freedom, present challenges for professional education programs tasked with operationalizing entry-to-practice competence frameworks for professional accreditation. A single embedded case study was used to explore how professional programs from one mid-sized Canadian…