The Challenge Of Postdoc’ing In The US: Perspectives From International Engineering Postdoctoral Scholars

Authors

Sylvia MENDEZ, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, United States of AmericaFollow
Kathryn WATSON, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, United States of AmericaFollow
Jennifer TYGRET, Illinois College, United States of AmericaFollow

Document Type

Conference Paper

Abstract

An intrinsic case study explores the challenges shared by international engineering postdoctoral scholars about working in the United States (US). Little research has been devoted to their experiences despite their stark increase in the postdoctoral labor force over the last decade. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight engineering postdoctoral scholars hailing from Canada, China, Colombia, Iran, Italy, and Thailand. Participant interviews were analyzed inductively and resulted in four themes: (1) Immigration concerns; (2) Strains to find a community; (3) Pressure to publish and secure funding; and (4) Inadequate career counseling. The identified themes could be particularly instructive to Ph.D. advisors outside the US whose students may pursue postdoctoral positions in the US, Ph.D. recipients, US postdoctoral advisors, and US college and university international offices.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.21427/N8XH-V956

Recommended Citation

Mendez, S., Watson, K., & Tygret, J. (2023). The Challenge Of Postdoc’ing In The US: Perspectives From International Engineering Postdoctoral Scholars. European Society for Engineering Education (SEFI). DOI: 10.21427/N8XH-V956

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.