Impact of Engineering Research Experience Programs on Domestic and International Undergraduate Students

Abstract

A total of 126 domestic and international undergraduate students attended a research experience program in engineering during the summers of 2017 to 2019. We explored how the programs affected domestic and international undergraduate students’ experiences in research, mentoring, and career goals differently from their expectations. A total of 87 students responded to at least one of the prepost surveys, whereas 45 students responded to both prepost surveys. All students expected to gain more research knowledge in hard skills but acknowledged significant acquisitions of professionalism in soft skills. All students expected faculty to be the most influential mentors, but domestic students ranked peers as their second most influential mentors. Domestic students slightly decreased their interest in graduate school while international students preferred a job after graduation.