Fostering Educational Equity in Engineering

Katrina Marie Robertson; Hadi Ali; Jonathan M. Adams; Elizabeth Ashley Rea

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Conference: 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Baltimore , Maryland
Publication Date: June 25, 2023
Start Date: June 25, 2023
End Date: June 28, 2023
Conference Session: Advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Tagged Division: Educational Research and Methods Division (ERM)
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Page Count: 16
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--43738
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/43738
Download Count: 185

Hadi Ali is an Assistant Professor of Aerospace Engineering at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. He studies the influence of the future of work on curricular innovation, with a focus on exploring the relationships between and among adaptability, risk taking and value making. In an effort to characterize engineering education as an (eco)system, his approach integrates analytical methods of data science to address changes in systems and society. More broadly, he is interested in examining how engineering innovations mobilize social and economic change.

Dr. Ali earned his PhD in Engineering Education Systems and Design from Arizona State University, studying the relationship between context and adaptability in curricular change. He has graduate degrees in Aeronautics and Astronautics (space systems design, and astrodynamics), Electrical and Computer Engineering (artificial intelligence, fields and optics) and Engineering Education (design cognition and human communication inquiry) all from Purdue University. He completed the Applied Management Principles program (mini-MBA) at the Krannert School of Management at Purdue. He also has an undergraduate degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics (propulsion) from Purdue and an undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering (design) from the University of Jordan.

Dr. Ali taught courses in use-inspired design at ASU and in transforming ideas to innovations at Purdue. Prior to that, Ali worked at the University of Jordan as a facilitator for curricular change and as a design content instructor at the Department of Mechatronics. He was on the management team of the Amman Design Week in its inaugural year in Jordan, launched by Queen Rania--a pioneering platform that harnessed creativity, revived the conversation about design, and instilled a spirit of collaboration and exchange.

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Jonathan M. Adams Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Prescott

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Jonathan Adams is an assistant professor of rhetoric and composition and the writing program administrator at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, AZ. His research on rhetorical theory, infrastructure, and communication pedagogy informs his teaching of courses in rhetoric, composition, and technical communication in engineering.

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Elizabeth Ashley Rea Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Prescott

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Abstract

This is a research paper. Students in introductory engineering courses face challenges communicating and integrating their ideas in team projects. When teamwork is gendered, women students can experience marginalization. Because of frequently lacking a stake in the discourse, women students become isolated, especially in situations where technical expertise is valued (Beddoes & Panther, 2017). While these issues can, and have been, attributed to gendered discourse and ideological roles, this research seeks to identify concrete ways in which educators might intervene to create more inclusive learning environments.

This research integrates frameworks from the domains of engineering education and technical and professional communication. Researchers in engineering education have evaluated the ways in which the curriculum can be altered to be more inclusive (Dewsbury, 2019), and assessed the outcomes of having diverse teams in the classroom (Oti et al., 2022). In technical and professional communication, researchers have developed taxonomies for understanding communication infrastructure (Adams, 2022) and found that inclusion is not only practiced by people and society, but in the methods that classrooms are conducted and tangibly constructed. However, there is still a need for further research on the social construct of STEM fields and how they have notably become male dominated. To that end, our study seeks to gain firsthand insight from female and gender diverse students and faculty members regarding their experiences in academia. Participants share perspectives and pieces of advice on how we can adjust course curriculum and methodology to establish a more inclusive setting within the introductory engineering courses at the university. This qualitative study seeks to answer: (1) What types of marginalization do women students experience while communicating their work in introductory engineering courses? (2) What strategies do they currently use to circumvent that marginalization?, and (3) What strategies might instructors implement to assist women students in circumventing these moments more effectively?

Grounded in an intersectional feminist theoretical orientation (Crenshaw, 1989), we conducted semi-structured interviews with a critical incident data collection method. After interviewing students and faculty about a time when students had a breakdown in communication and gaining the perspective of the students and faculty, we transcribe and code the interviews using in vivo, emotion, and axial coding. This analysis reveals how female and gender diverse students experience marginalization and faculty perceptions of these classroom experiences. This study provides insight into how institutions can enhance classroom interaction to benefit diverse groups. More specifically, this research offers the opportunity for expansion and inclusion within STEM fields, starting from the roots, at the instructional level at universities.

Keywords: rhetorical infrastructure, gender equity, communication and teamwork

Citation
Format

Robertson, K. M., & Ali, H., & Adams, J. M., & Rea, E. A. (2023, June), Fostering Educational Equity in Engineering Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--43738

TY - CPAPER
AB - This is a research paper. Students in introductory engineering courses face challenges communicating and integrating their ideas in team projects. When teamwork is gendered, women students can experience marginalization. Because of frequently lacking a stake in the discourse, women students become isolated, especially in situations where technical expertise is valued (Beddoes &amp;amp; Panther, 2017). While these issues can, and have been, attributed to gendered discourse and ideological roles, this research seeks to identify concrete ways in which educators might intervene to create more inclusive learning environments.

This research integrates frameworks from the domains of engineering education and technical and professional communication. Researchers in engineering education have evaluated the ways in which the curriculum can be altered to be more inclusive (Dewsbury, 2019), and assessed the outcomes of having diverse teams in the classroom (Oti et al., 2022). In technical and professional communication, researchers have developed taxonomies for understanding communication infrastructure (Adams, 2022) and found that inclusion is not only practiced by people and society, but in the methods that classrooms are conducted and tangibly constructed. However, there is still a need for further research on the social construct of STEM fields and how they have notably become male dominated. To that end, our study seeks to gain firsthand insight from female and gender diverse students and faculty members regarding their experiences in academia. Participants share perspectives and pieces of advice on how we can adjust course curriculum and methodology to establish a more inclusive setting within the introductory engineering courses at the university. This qualitative study seeks to answer: (1) What types of marginalization do women students experience while communicating their work in introductory engineering courses? (2) What strategies do they currently use to circumvent that marginalization?, and (3) What strategies might instructors implement to assist women students in circumventing these moments more effectively?

Grounded in an intersectional feminist theoretical orientation (Crenshaw, 1989), we conducted semi-structured interviews with a critical incident data collection method. After interviewing students and faculty about a time when students had a breakdown in communication and gaining the perspective of the students and faculty, we transcribe and code the interviews using in vivo, emotion, and axial coding. This analysis reveals how female and gender diverse students experience marginalization and faculty perceptions of these classroom experiences. This study provides insight into how institutions can enhance classroom interaction to benefit diverse groups. More specifically, this research offers the opportunity for expansion and inclusion within STEM fields, starting from the roots, at the instructional level at universities.

Keywords: rhetorical infrastructure, gender equity, communication and teamwork

AU - Katrina Marie Robertson
AU - Hadi Ali
AU - Jonathan M. Adams
AU - Elizabeth Ashley Rea
CY - Baltimore , Maryland
DA - 2023/06/25
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Fostering Educational Equity in Engineering
UR - https://peer.asee.org/43738
DO - 10.18260/1-2--43738
ER -