Disciplinary and Interdisciplinary Graduate Education: Belonging and Impostorism (Poster 4)

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Thursday 8:00 a.m.
  In Poster Session: Academic Success and Institutional Support

Abstract

This exploratory study examined doctoral students’ sense of belonging, academic self-concept, and perceived impostorism for interdisciplinary research. Eighty-five graduate students conducting interdisciplinary research completed a survey and an exploratory factor analysis found three factors: interdisciplinary identity, imposterism, and sense of belonging. Additional analyses found that there were no differences in the perceptions of belonging or impostorism for students by discipline or interdisciplinary research contexts. There were no significant differences by gender or race/ethnicity for academic self-concept, belonging, or impostorism. There were significant differences between students with high and low impostorism for their sense of belonging and academic self-concept. Students with high perceptions of impostorism reported having low levels of belonging and lower academic self-concept.

Authors

• M. Gail Jones, North Carolina State University

• Alicia Fischer, North Carolina State University

• Shiyan Jiang, North Carolina State University

• Madeline Stallard, North Carolina State University