An official website of the United States government
Abstract During their engineering programs, undergraduate students participate in the culture of engineering education to make meaning of themselves as they form professional identities. In this paper, we draw from Holland and colleagues’ theory of identity, agency, and figured worlds to further understand how undergraduate students make meaning of their identities as they participate in the figured world of engineering education. Our thematic narrative analysis revealed two types of narratives: (1) Narratives of Coherence that highlight the ways participants reconfigure normative identity roles in figured worlds to make space for their minoritized identities within engineering education, and (2) Narratives of Separation where participants maintain normative identity roles by either intentionally or unintentionally separating their minoritized identities from engineering activities. These findings point to strategies of perspective-building for supporting students and providing opportunities for contributing to a broader culture of inclusion in engineering classrooms.
more »
« less
This content will become publicly available on July 1, 2026
Comprehending multiple identities as minoritized students in engineering: How can diverse developmental networks grow meaning‐making capacity?
Abstract BackgroundMentoring is an important developmental relationship that can positively impact student growth, specifically, students' capacity to make sense of their own selves through addressing any possible incongruence between their social identities and emerging professional identity as engineers. This need is even more pronounced for students who have one or more identities that are minoritized in the field of engineering. PurposeAlthough prior literature has reported mentoring to have contributed to students' professional identity development as engineers, we lack an understanding of how multiple developers in students' developmental networks can offer complementary support. To address this gap, we sought to understand how diverse developers in students' networks enabled them to filter stereotypes that make their minoritized social identities incongruent with their evolving engineering identity. Design/MethodsWe used an idiographic case study methodology and paired interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) with intersectionality to analyze data from 10 undergraduate minoritized engineering students. ResultsWe offer three cases in this paper to illustrate minoritized students experiences at the intersections of their identities and how different developers offered three types of holding behaviors (e.g., empathic acknowledgment/confirmation, enabling perspective/contradiction, containment/continuity) that enabled the student mentees to grow their meaning‐making capacity (from formulaic to foundational) so that they could align their social identities with their emerging professional identity as engineers. ConclusionWe conclude the paper with a discussion of both research and practice implications about utilizing diverse developmental networks for growing students' meaning‐making capacities needed for them to better comprehend their multiple identities.
more »
« less
- Award ID(s):
- 2421846
- PAR ID:
- 10626852
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Engineering Education
- Volume:
- 114
- Issue:
- 3
- ISSN:
- 1069-4730
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
-
Abstract BackgroundAlthough prior research has provided robust descriptions of engineering students' identity development, a gap in the literature exists related to students' emotional experiences of shame, which undergird the socially constructed expectations of their professional formation. PurposeWe examined the lived experiences of professional shame among White male engineering students in the United States. We conceptualize professional shame to be a painful emotional state that occurs when one perceives they have failed to meet socially constructed expectations or standards that are relevant to their identity in a professional domain. MethodWe conducted unstructured interviews with nine White male engineering students from both a research‐focused institution and a teaching‐focused institution. We used interpretative phenomenological analysis to examine the interview transcripts. ResultsThe findings demonstrated four themes related to how participants experienced professional shame. First, they negotiated their global, or holistic, identities in the engineering domain. Second, they experienced threats to their identities within professional contexts. Third, participants responded to threats in ways that gave prominence to the standards they perceived themselves to have failed. Finally, they repaired their identities through reframing shame experiences and seeking social connection. ConclusionsThe findings demonstrate that the professional shame phenomenon is interwoven with professional identity development. In experiencing professional shame, White male students might reproduce the shame experience for themselves and others. This finding has important implications for the standards against which members from underrepresented groups may compare themselves and provides insight into the social construction of engineering cultures by dominant groups.more » « less
-
Context: Within higher education, reports show that approximately 6% of Australian college students and 13% of U.S. college students have identified as having a disability to their institution of higher education. Findings from research in K-12 education report that students with disabilities often leave secondary school with lower college aspirations and are discouraged from taking engineering-related courses. Those who do enrol are often not supported effectively and must navigate physical, cultural, and bureaucratic university systems in order to access resources necessary for success in school and work. This lack of support is problematic as cognitive, developmental, mental health, and physical disabilities can markedly shape the ways in which students perceive and experience school, form professional identities, and move into the engineering workforce. However, little work has explored professional identity development within this population, specifically within a single engineering discipline such as civil engineering. Purpose: To move beyond tolerance and actively embrace students with diverse perspectives in engineering higher education, the purpose of this study is to understand the ways in which undergraduate students who experience disability form professional identities as civil engineers. Approach: Drawing on the sensitizing concepts of identity saliency, intersectionality, and social identity theory, we utilize Constructivist Grounded Theory (GT) to explore the influences of and interactions among students' disability and professional identities within civil engineering. Semi-structured interviews, each lasting approximately 90 minutes, were conducted with undergraduate civil engineering students who identified as having a disability. Here, we present our findings from the initial and focused coding phases of our GT analysis. Results: Our analyses revealed two themes warranting further exploration: 1) varying levels of disability identity saliency in relation to the development of a professional identity; and 2) conflicting colloquial and individual conceptualizations of disability. Overall, it has been observed that students' experiences with and perceptions of these themes tend to vary based on characteristics of an experienced disability. Conclusions: Students with disabilities experience college - and form professional identities - in a variety of ways. While further research is required to delineate how disability shapes college students' professional identities and vice versa, gaining an understanding of student experiences can yield insights to help us create educational spaces that better allow students with disabilities to flourish in engineering and make engineering education more inclusive.more » « less
-
Context: Within higher education, reports show that approximately 6% of Australian college students and 13% of U.S. college students have identified as having a disability to their institution of higher education. Findings from research in K-12 education report that students with disabilities often leave secondary school with lower college aspirations and are discouraged from taking engineering-related courses. Those who do enrol are often not supported effectively and must navigate physical, cultural, and bureaucratic university systems in order to access resources necessary for success in school and work. This lack of support is problematic as cognitive, developmental, mental health, and physical disabilities can markedly shape the ways in which students perceive and experience school, form professional identities, and move into the engineering workforce. However, little work has explored professional identity development within this population, specifically within a single engineering discipline such as civil engineering. Purpose: To move beyond tolerance and actively embrace students with diverse perspectives in engineering higher education, the purpose of this study is to understand the ways in which undergraduate students who experience disability form professional identities as civil engineers. Approach: Drawing on the sensitizing concepts of identity saliency, intersectionality, and social identity theory, we utilize Constructivist Grounded Theory (GT) to explore the influences of and interactions among students' disability and professional identities within civil engineering. Semi-structured interviews, each lasting approximately 90 minutes, were conducted with undergraduate civil engineering students who identified as having a disability. Here, we present our findings from the initial and focused coding phases of our GT analysis. Results: Our analyses revealed two themes warranting further exploration: 1) varying levels of disability identity saliency in relation to the development of a professional identity; and 2) conflicting colloquial and individual conceptualizations of disability. Overall, it has been observed that students' experiences with and perceptions of these themes tend to vary based on characteristics of an experienced disability. Conclusions: Students with disabilities experience college - and form professional identities - in a variety of ways. While further research is required to delineate how disability shapes college students' professional identities and vice versa, gaining an understanding of student experiences can yield insights to help us create educational spaces that better allow students with disabilities to flourish in engineering and make engineering education more inclusive.more » « less
-
Abstract BackgroundShame is a deeply painful emotion people feel when they perceive that they have fallen short of socially constructed expectations. In this study,professional shamerefers to shame experiences that stem from people's perceptions that they have failed to meet expectations or standards that are relevant to their identities in a professional domain. While socially constructed expectations placed on engineering students have been implicitly addressed in the engineering education literature, they have rarely been the subject of specific inquiry. PurposeAs part of a broader study on professional shame in engineering, we investigated the co‐construction of social worlds that place expectations on engineering students. MethodWe conducted 10 ethnographic focus groups with undergraduate engineering students from two universities. These groups were either heterogeneous or homogeneous, regarding racial and gender identity, to examine multiple social realities. ResultsWe present significant findings related to engineering students' collective noticing, defining, and experiencing of social worlds. The findings give a sense of overlapping but distinct social realities among student groups and highlight how failing to meet expectations can contribute to deeply painful emotional responses. We also note when students' responses reproduce, resist, or redefine the broader cultural norms in which the students are embedded. ConclusionsThe study has implications for the theoretical exploration of shame, engineering education research on identity and diversity and inclusion, and the messaging and interactions in which the engineering education community engages.more » « less
