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Examining the STEM Institution and Imagining the Beginnings of a Revolutionary Praxis Through the Queer Perspective

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Conference

2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Location

Virtual Conference

Publication Date

July 26, 2021

Start Date

July 26, 2021

End Date

July 19, 2022

Conference Session

Changing How We Pursue Change

Tagged Divisions

Equity and Culture & Social Justice in Education

Tagged Topic

Diversity

Page Count

22

DOI

10.18260/1-2--37124

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/37124

Download Count

334

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Paper Authors

biography

Madeleine Jennings Arizona State University Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0003-3165-9230

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Madeleine Jennings is a doctoral student and graduate research assistant at Arizona State University - Polytechnic Campus, pursuing a PhD in Engineering Education Systems and Design and a MS in Human Systems Engineering. They received a BS in Manufacturing Engineering from Texas State University - San Marcos. Madeleine's research interests include investigating and improving the experiences of marginalized and invisible identities in engineering, such as queer engineering and ex-engineering students. They are also interested in examining and critiquing the engineering and engineering education institution to determine how its current structure marginalizes certain communities.

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Abstract

The STEM institution in the United States has grown and evolved within the context of the capitalist society that it is embedded. Scholars from the fields of education, gender and sexuality studies, and ethnic studies have adopted anti-capitalist frameworks which examine how American society’s educational, economic, and social systems have developed in ways that harm marginalized groups. These groups include the Gender, Romantic, and Sexual Minority (GRSM) community, Communities of Color, disabled people, and women. This paper adopts an anti-capitalist and critical lens specifically through the use of Foucauldian analysis of power dynamics to examine how four GRSM people who experienced the STEM educational and industrial institutions conceptualize revisions to that institution through the radical lens of their queerness. Two participants left the STEM institution due to discrimination based on their GRSM experiences, whereas the other two are still embedded in engineering environments. Each participant describes their experiences with power and privilege with regard to their subjectivities and those of their superiors, as well as reimagine the STEM institution through the beginnings of a revolutionary Queer praxis (or, theory into practice).

Jennings, M. (2021, July), Examining the STEM Institution and Imagining the Beginnings of a Revolutionary Praxis Through the Queer Perspective Paper presented at 2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual Conference. 10.18260/1-2--37124

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