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1. Is the AEC profession a good fit for me? A Constructivist Grounded Theory on Professional Identity Formation in First-Year Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) Women

   Ofori-Boadu, Andrea N.; Ofori-Boadu, Victor (August 2022, ASEE annual conference exposition)

   Miller, E. (Ed.)

   Abstract Women professionals are underrepresented in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry. As part of a larger and longitudinal nationwide study that constructs grounded theories to explain professional identity development (PID) processes in undergraduate AEC women, the purpose is to examine the lived experiences of first-year AEC women. Using purposive sampling, 40 AEC women from five institutions completed surveys with open-ended questions about salient first year experiences. Also, resumes and academic transcripts were obtained. Adopting the grounded theory approach and constant comparative analysis, data was analyzed using the NVivo Qualitative Analysis software for coding, categorization, and theme development. Data analysis reveals a critical question on the minds of first-year AEC women: Is this AEC profession a good fit for me? Utilizing four categories and twelve subcategories, an emerging theory, Sparking AEC-PID Through Agency and Networks, highlights the role of interactions between self and structures in forming AEC-PID and influencing women persistence in undergraduate AEC programs. This theory proposes important predictors of AEC-PID and AEC persistence in women. It captures cognitive, emotional, physical, social, and academic processes that spark AEC-PID in women. Positive interactions between self and AEC program environments strengthen AEC-PID because of improvement in AEC knowledge, views, mindsets, and efforts to explore niches for progression in undergraduate AEC programs and towards AEC professions. However, the lack of gender diversity remains a concern. Also, heavy workloads and unfavorable program conditions cause stress, particularly in Architecture women. These negative interactions weaken AEC-PID because they result in declining views about the AEC profession. Therefore, women persistence in undergraduate AEC programs requires developing the ‘survival’ mentality and spurring the super woman mindset. While medium to strong AEC-PID sustains the desire to persist in many Prevailing women, medium AEC-PID is also associated with lowered desire to persist as a few Hesitant women become open to other careers options. Excessively negative interactions erode AEC-PID and the desire to persist, as one Yielding woman plans her AEC program exit. It is critical that undergraduate AEC women are provided early AEC gateway experiences that assure them that AEC programs and professions are a good fit for them. Insights have theoretical and practical implications towards transformations that will strengthen the attraction, preparation, and retention of the next generation of AEC women. In the long term, this would reduce AEC workforce shortages and foster the innovation of more gender friendly AEC products and services. 

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2. Development of a Femalized Kinesthetic Learning Model to Increase Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) Career Interests in African American Middle School Girls

   Fash, M F (December 2024, ProQuest LLC)

   Although an increase in their participation could reduce workforce shortages and diversify innovations in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry, African American women remain significantly underrepresented in male-dominated AEC careers. Furthermore, partly due to the lack of early and meaningful AEC exposure, African American girls tend to have low interests in AEC careers. AEC infused out-of-school time (OST) programs have been successful in increasing middle-school girls’ AEC career self-efficacy and interests. However, there is limited understanding on how salient identities interact with learning experiences in AEC-infused OST learning environments to impact AEC career interests. The purpose of this research is to investigate how the salient identities of African American middle-school girls interact with learning experiences within a developed femalized AEC Kinesthetic Learning Model (fAEC-KLM) to impact AEC career interests. Adopting Lent’s social cognitive career theory, the gender and culturally responsive fAEC-KLM is a five-day AEC-infused OST program that engaged 14 African American middle-school girls in bridge-building projects, a panel session with female and African American AEC undergraduates, interactions with female and African American AEC professionals, and success stories featuring female and African American AEC professionals. Using a mixed method approach, data from interviews, surveys, tests, and observations are analyzed to assess changes in AEC career knowledge, self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and interests. Results show that the most effective fAEC-KLM components were lectures, bridge construction project, and peer interactions which improved AEC career knowledge, self-efficacy, and sense of belonging respectively. These in turn increased AEC career interests and three interest categories (active, passive, and null) are utilized to explain how varying fAEC-KLM interactions contributed to three different levels of AEC career interests. The findings align with prior career development and intersectionality frameworks. Findings also fill a critical gap in career development literature by providing insights into AEC career interest development processes in African American middle school girls through OST programs while highlighting how gender and culturally responsive approaches foster interests. Insights and recommendations contribute to ongoing literature to support interventions and policies that foster more equitable representation in AEC careers, increase diversity in AEC innovations, and reduce workforce shortages. 

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3. “I Think I Am Getting There” Understanding the Computational Identity of Engineering Students Participating in a Computationally Intensive Thermodynamics Course

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s43683-022-00084-1  

   Shoaib, Huma; Madamanchi, Aasakiran; Pienaar, Elsje; Umulis, David M.; Cardella, Monica E. (September 2022, Biomedical Engineering Education)

   Abstract In response to the growing computational intensity of the healthcare industry, biomedical engineering (BME) undergraduate education is placing increased emphasis on computation. The presence of substantial gender disparities in many computationally intensive disciplines suggests that the adoption of computational instruction approaches that lack intentionality may exacerbate gender disparities. Educational research suggests that the development of an engineering and computational identity is one factor that can support students’ decisions to enter and persist in an engineering major. Discipline-based identity research is used as a lens to understand retention and persistence of students in engineering. Our specific purpose is to apply discipline-based identity research to define and explore the computational identities of undergraduate engineering students who engage in computational environments. This work will inform future studies regarding retention and persistence of students who engage in computational courses. Twenty-eight undergraduate engineering students (20 women, 8 men) from three engineering majors (biomedical engineering, agricultural engineering, and biological engineering) participated in semi-structured interviews. The students discussed their experiences in a computationally-intensive thermodynamics course offered jointly by the Biomedical Engineering and Agricultural & Biological Engineering departments. The transcribed interviews were analyzed through thematic coding. The gender stereotypes associated with computer programming also come part and parcel with computer programming, possibly threatening a student's sense of belonging in engineering. The majority of the participants reported that their computational identity was “in the making.” Students’ responses also suggested that their engineering identity and their computational identity were in congruence, while some incongruence is found between their engineering identity and a creative identity as well as between computational identity and perceived feminine norms. Responses also indicate that students associate specific skills with having a computational identity. This study's findings present an emergent thematic definition of a computational person constructed from student perceptions and experiences. Instructors can support students’ nascent computational identities through intentional mitigation of the gender stereotypes and biases, and by framing assignments to focus on developing specific skills associated with the computational modeling processes. 

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4. Persistence of African American Females in Engineering: The Mathematics Identity Factor.

   McKoy, T.L.; Beane, C.D.; Oyeteju, M.O.; Hammond, M.S.; Hargrove, S.K (January 2020, Urban education research and policy annuals)

   null (Ed.)

   To continue as global science and technological leaders, the United States is motivated to create a diverse, engineering workforce. One way of diversifying the engineering workforce is to address the disparity of women engineers. Although concerted efforts to improve retention rates of women in engineering are ongoing, women have earned only 5.6% of all undergraduate engineering degrees, with only 1% attributed to African American women (NSF, 2015b). African American women are commonly included in racial or gender-focused studies on persistence; however, few studies assess the effect of multiple identities to persistence. This exploratory study examined the relationship of persistence, measured by intent to persist, to multiple identities (social, professional, and racial) of African American female engineering students. Forward regression analyses were conducted and results indicated that the participant’s mathematical identities were more salient to them than their racial or gender identities. Also, the values these women placed on being an engineer and belonging to the group were principal aspects of their professional identity. Additionally, negative affect and stereotype threat were found significant predictors of intent to persist. 

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5. An Examination of Perceived Climate, Identity and Belongingness among Undergraduate Women in Engineering

   Ali, S. (January 2021, 2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access)

   More women than men in the US graduate college, but women constitute only 16% of the engineering workforce [1]. Women frequently attribute their lack of persistence in engineering to a chilly academic climate [2]. Researchers have suggested that developing a robust engineering identity could moderate a climate effect and support improved retention and graduation of female engineers [2]. However, there is little empirical data on interrelationships among gender, perceived academic climate in engineering programs, engineering identity, and belonging to an engineering community. We drew on social identity theory and extant literature to develop four research questions: 1) Are there any differences between men and women regarding perceived academic climate, sense of belonging, and engineering identity? 2) Does academic climate predict engineering identity in the same way for women and men? 3)Does sense of belonging mediate the relationship between perceived academic climate and engineering identity? 4) Do engineering students who are women demonstrate different relationships among perceived climate, engineering identity, and belongingness from men? We used survey data from a multi-year NSF-funded project (Award # 1726268, #1726088, and #1725880/2033129) that incorporated experimental course-based interventions to build an inclusive curriculum. Surveys were administered at the beginning and end of the semester. We found that at the end of the semester women engineering undergraduates reported lower engineering identity though the initial engineering identity, perceived academic climate, and sense of belonging were the same for both men and women engineering undergraduates. Multiple regression analyses with 601 first-year engineer majors (21% female) indicated perceived climate and gender accounted for 48% of engineering identity variability. The interaction between perceived climate and gender on engineering identity was not statistically significant. Mediation analysis revealed that sense of belonging (b=0.42, 95% CI [0.30, 0.53]) mediated the relationship between perceived climate and engineering identity for both males and females. Sense of belonging was critical in engineering identity. Moderated mediation analysis indicated gender did not moderate the indirect effect of perceived climate on engineering identity through a sense of belonging. 

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