Benjamin Goldschneider

Benjamin Goldschneider is an Assistant Professor and founding member of the First-Year Engineering Center at the University of Virginia. His roles encompass teaching, advising, curriculum development, and research, with a focus on enhancing student success in early college years. He holds a Ph.D. in Engineering Education from Virginia Tech (2023) and a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University (2018). His research emphasizes student socialization, belonging, and institutional structures impacting success, informed by a doctoral thesis exploring students’ perceptions of their academic journey and university environment.

• Education:
  • Bachelor’s in Industrial Engineering, Purdue University (2018)
  • Ph.D. in Engineering Education, Virginia Tech (2023) with Higher Education Administration Certification

Benjamin’s research interests center on fostering student belonging, disciplinary socialization, and cross-border comparisons of student experiences. Collaborating internationally with teams in the U.S., U.K., and South Africa, he explores projects like Understanding Knowledge and Student Agency and Graduate Experiences of Employability. His work bridges education policy, pedagogy, and student well-being.

Recent publications highlight trends in student engagement, formative assessment, and interdisciplinary curricula. They address themes such as course feedback integration, pre-college socialization, and cross-country engineering education practices. His research underscores the importance of holistic approaches to student development.

Benjamin’s advising and curriculum innovations aim to align academic structures with student needs. He advocates for programs that integrate career development with academic advising, as seen in a novel two-semester engineering design course sequence.