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Participants’ Conceptions about Self-/Advocacy around Hidden Curriculum in Engineering

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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

Equity, Culture & Social Justice in Education Division (EQUITY) Technical Session 1

Tagged Divisions

Equity and Culture & Social Justice in Education Division (EQUITY)

Tagged Topic

Diversity

Page Count

16

DOI

10.18260/1-2--43860

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/43860

Download Count

198

Paper Authors

biography

Victoria Beth Sellers University of Florida

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Dr. Victoria Sellers is a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Engineering Education at the University of Florida. Her current research is focused on determining how engineering students respond to hidden curriculum.

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biography

R. Jamaal Downey University of Florida

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Dr. Downey has been a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Engineering Education at the University of Florida since 2021. His current research is focused on determining how engineering students respond to hidden curriculum as well as how Latinx contingent faculty experience workplace inequities in engineering. He received his Ph.D. in Language, Literacy, and Culture in Education from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Dr. Downey focuses on critical qualitative inquiry with a discerning eye toward humanizing and culturally sustaining pedagogies.

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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

Hidden curriculum (HC) refers to unwritten and unacknowledged attitudes, values, beliefs, and opinions in an environment [1]–[7]. The research team utilized the [redacted] survey, a validated mixed-methods instrument [7], which they distributed to engineering students and faculty (N = 984) across the United States and Puerto Rico. The research team has previously explored how individuals are aware of, express emotions in response to, and leverage their self-efficacy in response to HC in engineering [1], [6], [8]. The research team originally intended to extend this research to investigate individuals’ self-advocacy strategies, as well as strategies they used to advocate for others when they witness negative HC. However, during descriptive and thematic coding of responses to the self-advocacy open-ended survey item, we noted engineering students’ (n = 27) conceptions that may limit their self-advocacy or advocacy for others (self-/advocacy) in response to negative HC. We explored these responses further using a case study-inspired approach [9], wherein we identified four conceptions about HC self-/advocacy. A few participants (n = 2) did not think that HC in engineering is an issue, and as a result, did not self-/advocate for themselves or others. A few participants (n = 3) insisted on colorblind and gender-blind equality in their self-/advocacy. Many participants (n = 17) acknowledged that HC is present in engineering yet self-advocate or advocate in ways that could perpetuate HC. A few participants (n = 7) conceptualized HC awareness and advocacy, particularly on HC-related issues around sexism and racism, as harmful to some people in engineering. By exploring this group of participants’ further, the research team glimpsed an undercurrent of student opinions around HC self-/advocacy that may inform future professional development and curricular change.

Sellers, V. B., & Downey, R. J., & Villanueva Alarcón, I. (2023, June), Participants’ Conceptions about Self-/Advocacy around Hidden Curriculum in Engineering Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--43860

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