Document Type

Conference Paper

Publication Date

2019

Publication Title

2019 ASEE Southeast Section Conference

Pages

5 pp.

Conference Name

2019 ASEE Southeast Section Conference, March 10-12, Raleigh, North Carolina

Abstract

While there have been many efforts to broaden opportunities for all STEM students by engaging in interdisciplinary endeavors and education focusing on professional development, there are particular problems facing students pursuing doctoral degrees in engineering disciplines. Doctoral programs of the future need to become better equipped to prepare students for future careers as engineering professionals or faculty. It has been noted recently that many doctoral degree recipients are turning to jobs outside of academia but increases in undergraduate enrollment and the average age of the professoriate indicate an increase in demand for new faculty. Both future faculty and professionals can benefit from experiential preparation in the grant proposal writing process. While the benefits of grant writing experience for future faculty during graduate school may seem self-evident and there are courses that teach the mechanics of grant writing, there are not many programs that follow this course with an experience where the student develops a full proposal. This activity requires students to present and justify the merit of their ideas in writing; collaborate and compromise with other researchers; and understand logistics and restrictions on budget and resources. Additionally, each of these activities translates into professional development skills including relating individual work to a broader purpose; communication and teamwork; and project, funding, and resource management, respectively. This paper represents a call to action for current and future doctoral engineering programs. We will discuss how a grant writing experience composed of a proposal writing course and follow-up mentored grant writing experience can be developed to prepare both future engineering professionals and faculty.

Rights

© 2019 American Society for Engineering Education, 2019 ASEE Southeast Section Conference (Raleigh, North Carolina, March 10-12, 2019). All rights reserved.

Included with the kind written permission of the copyright holder.

Original Publication Citation

Smith, K., Siangchokyoo, N., Gamarra, E., Tamhane, A., & Dean, A. W. (2019). Doctoral engineering grant writing experience to prepare future professionals and faculty [Conference Paper]. 2019 ASEE Southeast Section Conference, Raleigh, North Carolina. https://sites.asee.org/se/wp-content/uploads/sites/56/2021/04/2019ASEESE113.pdf

ORCID

0000-0002-5026-4501 (Smith)

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