Thought must be given to how individuals from underrepresented groups (URGs) conceptualize their academic engineering identities. Black male students have been shown to face a great challenge in integrating their racial identification into their self-concept. This “balancing act” involves the navigation and negotiation between multiple social spaces. The establishment of a positive identity associated with engineering is critical to how underrepresented students establish their sense of agency and overall “fit” within the institutional and/or professional setting. Yet, because of low numbers in participant populations, many studies fail to disaggregate the experiences of individuals from URGs. Further, if makerspaces represent an avenue of hope for fostering a generation of makers and innovative thinkers prepared to address the needs and challenges of our society, it is quite plausible that without careful attention we could be building another exclusionary system through makerspaces, grounded in the acceptance of Caucasian, male experiences and perceptions as the status quo. As making could potentially impact academic progression, through early exposure and opportunities to develop confidence through building, design, iteration and community, it is critical that we understand how all students, especially those from underrepresented groups, come to affiliate with, become alienated from and/or negotiate the cultural norms within these maker communities. To achieve this, it is necessary to explore the complexities of underrepresented students’ identity development. This study investigated the experiences of Black male engineering students that have also engaged in university-affiliated makerspaces as makers. Seven Black male students from a range of institution types, including Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs), Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Institutions (AANAPI), participated in narrative interviews to ascertain stories of their personal growth and identity development. Engaging in makerspaces was found to promote agency and engineering identity for Black male undergraduates; however, makerspaces located at PWIs were found to reflect the heteronormative culture of engineering in a way that challenged smooth navigation in and through these spaces for Black men.
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Participation pathways for women into university makerspaces
Engineering education has observed considerable growth in academic makerspaces with initial data indicating significant potential for makerspaces to support learning.
Given gender disparities in engineering as a professional community of practice (CoP) and indications for makerspaces as sites for learning, educational researchers need to forge a better understanding of women's pathways into makerspaces, including the barriers that inhibit and the catalysts that broaden participation.
This study employed qualitative interviews with 20 women students who were identified as makers in order to gain insights into the characteristics of their pathways into university makerspaces.
Using grounded theory development, four major aspects of students' pathways emerged: (1) early forms of apprenticeship through mentors; (2) overcoming and resisting limiting gendered expectations imposed by others in early experiences in unfamiliar makerspace CoPs, resulting in failed articulations of related communities; (3) successful articulations of community grounded in making‐centered coursework and personal passions; and (4) relationships in college that expanded access, leadership, and visibility toward fuller participation in makerspace CoPs.
Educational interventions to broaden women's participation in makerspaces must be multipronged and attend to early childhood experiences, include supportive opportunities for women to participate in making in K‐12 and university curricula, expand definitions of making to legitimize the arts and crafts as part of design, and create apprenticeship opportunities for women to mentor women in makerspaces. We must change the narrative of who makers are, what making is, and who belongs in makerspaces to reduce barriers and create inclusive making communities.
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10449196
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Engineering Education
- Volume:
- 110
- Issue:
- 3
- ISSN:
- 1069-4730
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- p. 700-717
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Abstract Background Makerspaces have increased in popularity recently and hold many promises for STEM education. However, they may also fall prey to hegemonic, marginalizing norms and ultimately narrow the definition of making and exclude who counts as makers. Explicitly focusing on diversity, equity, and inclusion when examining makerspaces is of utmost urgency and importance for STEM education researchers; one way to foreground equity is through theoretical frameworks that critically examine the structure, environment, participation, and pedagogy within STEM makerspaces.
Purpose Thus, we investigate the following: (1) what are the theoretical frameworks applied and (2) how, if at all, is equity addressed in research exploring STEM makerspaces? In synthesizing prior work, we aim to provide recommendations for using theoretical frameworks in supporting inclusivity in STEM makerspaces.
Scope/Method We conducted a systematic review of articles that examine a STEM makerspace, apply a theoretical framework, and consider diversity, equity, and/or inclusion. We identified
n = 34 relevant studies and coded each for basic characteristics.Results We highlight 10 exemplars that use critical theoretical frameworks as a way to foreground equity in the research design. The authors of these exemplar studies are reflective throughout their research processes and position themselves as learning in tandem with their participants. Further, they take active steps to transfer agency and power to their participants, and in doing so, lift forms of knowing not widely valued in STEM spaces.
Conclusions We conclude with recommendations for educators, makerspace staff, and researchers relevant to expanding dominant conceptions of what counts as making and thereby, supporting inclusivity in STEM makerspaces.
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As the need for civil engineers continues to grow, so too does the need to broaden participation and increase diversity in the field. While researchers in civil engineering (CE) education have identified the need for more intentional recruitment and retention of women and people of color in the civil engineering field, few studies have considered disability status in these contexts. To address this gap in the literature and enhance the recruitment and retention of minoritized groups in civil engineering, we explore the intersections of gender and disability in civil engineering to better understand why individuals choose to leave the discipline. We focus our discussion on the experiences of Sammie, Shawn, and Natalie, three white women who identify as having disabilities and are no longer enrolled in CE programs. As part of a larger, longitudinal study examining the professional identity formation of undergraduate CE students with disabilities, semi-structured interviews were conducted with each participant and analyzed using open and focused grounded theory coding techniques. Findings revealed four overarching themes that capture participants’ pathways out of civil engineering: 1) experiencing conflicts with dominant CE culture; 2) encountering barriers within the CE curriculum; 3) navigating intersecting stereotypes and compounding marginalization; and 4) leaving while remaining peripherally identified with the CE discipline. While participants’ identification with the discipline were altered, they were not eliminated; in leaving, all participants chose to pursue careers that are peripherally related to CE. These findings point to potential strategies and opportunities for supporting students who may leave the major, but do not intend to leave the profession altogether and highlight the cross-functionality of engineering workplaces not always acknowledged in academia. Overall, this work contributes to ongoing efforts to intentionally lower and remove barriers that serve to marginalize any group in civil engineering education and engineering education, broadly.more » « less
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There has been dramatic growth in the number of makerspaces at educational institutions. More research is needed to understand student interactions in these spaces and how these spaces should be designed to support student learning. This project uses network analysis techniques to study the network of activities in a makerspace that lead to successful student experiences. The proposed analyses will model a makerspace as a network of interactions between equipment, staff, and students. Results from this study will help educators to 1) identify and remove previously unknown hurdles for students who rarely use the space, 2) design an effective space using limited resources, 3) understand the impact of new equipment or staff, and 4) create learning opportunities such as workshops and curriculum integration that increase student learning. The new knowledge produced by this project may be useful for maximizing equipment and support infrastructure, and for guiding new equipment purchases. Thus, the results will support further development of effective makerspaces. This project hypothesizes that network-level analyses and metrics can provide valuable insights into student learning in makerspaces and will support what-if scenarios for proposed changes in spaces. Systems modeling and analysis have been used successfully to understand complex human and biological networks. In the context of makerspaces, this technique will provide measures of interaction between system components such as students, staff, and equipment. The analyses will identify the system components that are frequently used when students work in the makerspace over multiple visits. The project will allow for the comparison of makerspaces that have different levels of integration with the curriculum and methods of student introduction (pop-up classes, tours, extra-curricular competitions, advertising, and bring a friend). Demonstration of the effectiveness of the analyses in characterizing makerspaces and the ease of data collection will help support the use of this approach in future work that compares makerspaces nationwide. Current results explore the order in which students choose to learn and use the tools in the space, which tools/features are used most frequently and how the data from the daily entry/exit surveys compares to the end-of-semester self-reports. A key question in this research, especially for making it adoptable by other universities, is if end-of-semester, self-reported data is accurate enough to create informative, actionable guidance from the network models without requiring the daily tool usage data.more » « less
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null (Ed.)Abstract An academic makerspace, home to tools and people dedicated to facilitating and inspiring a making culture, is characterized by openness, creativity, learning, design, and community. This nontraditional learning environment has found an immense increase in popularity and investment in the last decade. Further, makerspaces have been shown to be highly gendered, privileging men's and masculine understandings of making. The spike in popularity warrants deeper analysis, examining the value of these spaces for women and if learning is occurring in these spaces, specifically at higher education institutions. We implemented a phenomenologically based interviewing process to capture the making experiences of 20 women students, recruited through purposive and snowball sampling. By eliciting the narratives of women students, we captured how making, designing, and creating evolved through gendered experiences in the university makerspace. Each interview was transcribed and resulted in around 868 pages of single-spaced text transcriptions. The data were analyzed through multiple cycles of open and axial coding for common themes and patterns, where makerspaces create a culture of learning, facilitate students’ design journey, and form a laboratory for creativity. These themes forwarded the creation of a learning model that showcases how design and learning interact in the makerspace. This work demonstrates that women students are engaging learning and inspiration; developing confidence and resilience; and learning how to work with others and collaborate.more » « less
