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Engineers and Mothers of Color: The Struggle of Juggling Work and Children with a Specific Learning Difficulty

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Conference

2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Portland, Oregon

Publication Date

June 23, 2024

Start Date

June 23, 2024

End Date

July 12, 2024

Conference Session

Women in Engineering Division (WIED) Technical Session 2 - Personal Situations

Tagged Division

Women in Engineering Division (WIED)

Tagged Topic

Diversity

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/47296

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Paper Authors

biography

Kimberly Cook-Chennault Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0003-4755-947X

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Kimberly Cook-Chennault is an Associate Professor in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department at Rutgers University. She holds BS and MS degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan and Stanford University respectively; an

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biography

Idalis Villanueva Alarcón University of Florida Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0002-8767-2576

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Dr. Villanueva is an Associate Professor in the Engineering Education Department at the University of Florida. Her multiple roles as an engineer, engineering educator, engineering educational researcher, and professional development mentor for underrepresented groups.

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Abstract

This full Women in Engineering Division paper will present the stories of two academics of color in engineering departments, self-identified as a Black woman and Latina, who for the past couple of years have been navigating the diagnosis, treatment, and management of their children's specific learning difficulties (SLD). This qualitative story exchange will present itself as a conversation between two colleagues and friends who have struggled with navigating the diagnosis and interventions of SLDs for their children. The conversation will discuss the dichotomy between being an engineering educator who has practical and research expertise in teaching and learning and the discourses they have experienced when navigating the educational systems for their children. Intertwined within the story, the academic moms will discuss layers of systemic oppression and inequalities that they have experienced in the process of advocating for their children and witnessing what their own children face amid the intersectional identities they carry. The paper will conclude with a call to action for engineering education to consider the unique challenges academic women engineering faculty and other gender identities who have parental responsibilities face at the intersection of race, ethnicity, mental health, and SLDs. Implications for improving the working conditions of these academic faculty and parents of color in engineering will be discussed.

Cook-Chennault, K., & Villanueva Alarcón, I. (2024, June), Engineers and Mothers of Color: The Struggle of Juggling Work and Children with a Specific Learning Difficulty Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/47296

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