Exploring graduate funding: Variation across engineering disciplines and relationships to student engagement and satisfaction

Abstract

The primary focus of this study is the relationship between graduate student funding types and various measures of student satisfaction. Graduate-level enrollments and degrees are continuing to grow. Given the significant numbers of STEM graduate students participating in assistantships and fellowships and the substantial investments to support those positions, minimal extant literature examines their relationships to the graduate student experience. This paper provides results from an exploratory study that addresses this topic through a college-wide survey of engineering graduate students. A one-way ANOVA identified three items with statistically significant differences between groups with different funding types. Items related to choosing research interests and allocation of graduate teaching assistantship positions. A follow-up study has been devised to examine these research questions further, in addition to other questions surrounding the graduate student experience, in a more systematic fashion.