Collaborative Research: Research Initiation: Engineering Identity Formation of Student Veterans Through Capstone Experiences

NSF Award Search · 01002627DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT · $158,776 · view on nsf.gov ↗

Abstract

This project will examine how undergraduate students who are also military veterans develop engineering identity, professional confidence, and a sense of belonging over time as they move through capstone design experiences in engineering and engineering technology programs. The project also explores how engineering identity interacts with an identity as a veteran within a capstone environment. Students who are also military veterans ("Student Veterans") bring valuable prior experiences to engineering education, including leadership, teamwork, technical training, mission-focused problem solving, and experience working under real-world constraints. However, little is known about how these prior experiences shape their transition into engineering roles, especially during capstone design, where students are expected to integrate technical knowledge, communicate with teammates and stakeholders, make design decisions, and begin seeing themselves as members of the engineering profession. This project will study how Student Veterans make meaning of their prior military identity while developing an emerging engineering identity, given that both are strong role identities. This work will contribute to our understanding of the professional formation of engineers which includes investigating how and why people become engineers, how identity develops through formal and informal educational experiences, and how engineering programs can better support students who enter engineering through

Key facts

NSF award ID
2609426
Awardee
Austin Peay State University (TN)
SAM.gov UEI
RWKCVTBEDCX7
PI
Jody L Alberd
Primary program
01002627DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
All programs
EDUCATION RESEARCH, ENGINEERING EDUCATION, Veterans Involvement
Estimated total
$158,776
Funds obligated
$158,776
Transaction type
Standard Grant
Period
07/01/2026 → 06/30/2028