Catherine Berdanier
· Associate ProfessorPennsylvania State University · Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering
Active 2013–2025
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About
Catherine Berdanier is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Penn State University, where she also serves as the Director of Online Programs. Her research focuses on engineering education, including writing attitudes, social media forums related to graduate engineering student attrition, visualization of engineering writing and argumentation patterns, and the development of methods to study real-time engineering writing processes. She has contributed to understanding disciplinary discourse in engineering, graduate student perceptions, and the socialization of future faculty through her scholarly work. Berdanier holds a BS in Chemistry, Spanish from the University of South Dakota, an MS in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from Purdue University, and a PhD in Engineering Education from Purdue University. Her work has been published extensively in journals and conference proceedings, exploring topics such as engineering writing, leadership behaviors of early-career engineers, ethics and sustainability in global contexts, and engineering identity development. She has received notable awards including the NSF CAREER Award, the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), and the Sloan Fellowship Program Mentor of the Year. Her research aims to impact engineering education practices and support the development of engineering professionals.
Research topics
- Pedagogy
- Engineering
- Psychology
- Engineering management
- Mathematics education
- Medicine
- Virology
- Engineering ethics
- Social psychology
- Physics
Selected publications
A hard stop to the term “soft skills”
Journal of Engineering Education · 2021 · 39 citations
1st authorCorrespondingSurviving, thriving, departing, and the hidden competencies of engineering graduate school
Journal of Engineering Education · 2022 · 37 citations
Senior authorCorrespondingAbstract Background While researchers in graduate engineering education are beginning to study facets of student experiences as they relate to attrition and persistence, theoretical applications of thriving theory have not been applied to graduate education contexts. Literature addresses students who persist and those who depart, inherently making assumptions that students who persist are doing well. Purpose/Hypothesis The purpose of this article was to understand graduate student well‐being wit…
Journal of Engineering Education · 2022 · 24 citations
Background: During the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, universities rapidly pivoted to online formats and were often unable to adhere to the best practices of online learning highlighted in prior literature. It is well documented that a variety of barriers impeded "normal" educational practices. Purpose/Hypothesis: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the perceptions of first-year engineering students enrolled in an introductory engineering design course during the rapid transition to onlin…
Journal of Engineering Education · 2024-12-19 · 7 citations
articleOpen accessSenior authorCorrespondingAbstract Background Given high attrition rates and lack of interest in faculty careers, it is crucial to understand how doctoral engineering students conceptualize academia and academic careers. Purpose/Hypothesis This study aims to characterize the development of academic disenchantment among engineering students who have considered departure from their doctoral programs. Schema theory was used to explore how students develop and evolve in their conceptualizations of academia through their live…
Journal of Engineering Education · 2024-10-01 · 7 citations
articleOpen accessSenior authorCorrespondingAbstract Background Although most engineering graduate students are funded and usually complete their degrees faster than other disciplines, attrition remains a problem in engineering. Existing research has explored the psychological and sociological factors contributing to attrition but not the structural factors impacting attrition. Purpose/Hypothesis Using systems theory, this study seeks to understand nuance in how underlying structural causes affect engineering graduate students' attrition…
Recent grants
NSF · $394k · 2020–2024
NSF · $350k · 2017–2021
NSF · $671k · 2018–2026
Frequent coauthors
- 82 shared
Marie Paretti
George Washington University
- 81 shared
Kelly Scarff
Virginia Tech
- 81 shared
Elena Kalodner-Martin
- 81 shared
Ann Hill Duin
University of Minnesota
- 81 shared
Morgan C. Banville
- 81 shared
Drake Gossi
The University of Texas at Austin
- 51 shared
Ellen Zerbe
Pennsylvania State University
- 41 shared
Jessica Menold
Park University
Labs
The PSMES board of directors is made up of elected officers, six to nine at large members, the ME department head, and a mechanical engineering faculty member.
Awards & honors
- Sloan Fellowship Program Mentor of the Year, Sloan Foundatio…
- Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers…
- Shuman Family Early Career Professorship, Clyde W. Shuman Jr…
- NSF CAREER Award, National Science Foundation, December 2018
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