A Qualitative Study of Support and Transition Experiences for Underrepresented Minority Students in the Rising Doctoral Institute

This paper explores the impact of the Rising Doctoral Institute (RDI) on underrepresented minority (URM) students in engineering Ph.D.programs in their first year.Developed to address the disproportionate departure of URM students from such programs, the NSF-funded RDI aims to facilitate their transition.Longitudinal Interviews participants from five universities during the 2022-2023 academic year reveal three key dimensions of RDI's impact during their first year as doctoral students: 1) Facilitating Student Well-being, 2) Guiding the Ph.D.Process, and 3) Fostering Community, Belonging, and Identity.The study acknowledges the need for further research while recognizing the Garcia et al.(2020) model's efficacy in cultivating an inclusive university and program environment for URM students.The paper concludes by highlighting RDI's role as a catalyst for supporting the transition and proposing strategic activities to strengthen possibilities for the success of URM students in engineering doctoral programs.