Asee peer logo

Climate Perceptions of Transgender & Nonbinary Engineering Undergraduate Students

Download Paper |

Conference

2019 ASEE PNW Section Conference

Location

Corvallis, Oregon

Publication Date

March 20, 2019

Start Date

March 20, 2019

End Date

March 22, 2019

DOI

10.18260/1-2--31870

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/31870

Paper Authors

biography

Andrea Haverkamp Oregon State University Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0003-0075-2109

visit author page

Andrea Haverkamp is a PhD candidate in Environmental Engineering with a Queer Studies minor at Oregon State University. Her dissertation research explores the support systems and community resiliency of transgender and gender nonconforming undergraduate students in undergraduate engineering education. She holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Kansas and an M.Eng in Environmental Engineering from Oregon State University.

visit author page

Download Paper |

Abstract

(Poster Presentation)

Engineering remains the most male dominated professional occupation in the United States. Research into professional identity formation define engineering identity and culture as both existing within hegemonic masculinity. Gender in engineering research has traditionally investigated how this influences women and their gender identity & expression. Prior studies indicate that women may experience a lower perception of belonging in engineering and may alter their sense of self or gender presentation to “fit in.” LGBTQ+ individuals in engineering are found to report similar experiences, navigating the field with a rate of “closeting” that is the highest among STEM disciplines. Unexplored are experiences of those whose relationship to gender is more nuanced than two binary categories and an assumed cisgender status.

Results from the analysis of 2016 student survey data present climate perceptions which are significantly correlated with gender identity and gender status. Questions relating to sense of belonging, imposter syndrome, and perceptions of identity impact were asked by 32 questions which were averaged into 4 reliable social concept scales. Data interpretation was performed using IBM SPSS to ascertain trends, p values, and effect size represented by point biserial correlation (rpb) and eta. One’s gender as nonbinary or a woman is correlated to a greater awareness of identity, employment of impression management tactics, diminished belonging, and sense of doubt when compared to men. There were similar relationships when comparing cisgender students against transgender students. The data suggest nonbinary and transgender students are navigating an inequitable social climate in engineering education, necessitating further investigation.

Haverkamp, A. (2019, March), Climate Perceptions of Transgender & Nonbinary Engineering Undergraduate Students Paper presented at 2019 ASEE PNW Section Conference, Corvallis, Oregon. 10.18260/1-2--31870

ASEE holds the copyright on this document. It may be read by the public free of charge. Authors may archive their work on personal websites or in institutional repositories with the following citation: © 2019 American Society for Engineering Education. Other scholars may excerpt or quote from these materials with the same citation. When excerpting or quoting from Conference Proceedings, authors should, in addition to noting the ASEE copyright, list all the original authors and their institutions and name the host city of the conference. - Last updated April 1, 2015