How STEM Doctoral Students Make Meaning of Their Academic and Professional Trajectories: A Narrative Analysis

• In Event: STEM Graduate Education

Abstract

Guided by graduate socialization theory, this study examines how STEM doctoral students make meaning of their professional and academic trajectories. More specifically, we use narrative inquiry to identify perceived developmental trajectories among 65 doctoral students in the biological sciences, focusing on the salient experiences and social forces that shape the way students identify and describe their graduate experiences over time. Findings reveal wide variation in terms of how students described their trajectories, with some students describing linear trajectories and stable interests, while others described their developmental trajectories as “tumultuous”. These articulated trajectories were largely shaped by student-advisor interactions and the privilege students brought with them to their graduate program. These and other findings are reviewed.

Authors

• Jennifer M. Blaney, Northern Arizona University

• Annie M. Wofford, Northern Arizona University

• Soojeong Jeong, Utah State University

• Jina Kang, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• David F. Feldon, Utah State University