Relationships and Identity Influences on Engineering Doctoral Degree Completion Intentions

Doctoral engineering students leave doctoral programs without their intended degrees at high rates, with students from minoritized groups leaving at higher rates. In the current study, we modeled the associations between academic relationships, professional identity, and degree completion intentions (DCI). Positive academic relationships with research advisors and peers within doctoral degree programs can bolster persistence and professional identity development. Professional identity is proposed as a mediator of academic relationships on DCI. Participants were 913 doctoral engineering students from 113 universities across the United States. Using structural equation modeling, we found support for the proposed direct and indirect effects. A multigroup model was tested with six groups: underrepresented minority (URM) women, Asian women, white women, URM men, Asian men, and white men. The model fit remained strong. The model provides insights into ways engineering education systems may engage advisors and peers to support students as an avenue to increasing persistence to a degree. The findings highlight the importance of equitable systems, structures, and relationships that serve underrepresented students.