Tension of Legacy:  Self-Authorship of Female Engineering Students and Their Professional Choice

Jennifer A. Skaggs

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Conference: 2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Publication Date: June 23, 2013
Start Date: June 23, 2013
End Date: June 26, 2013
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: Undergraduate Student Issues: Persistence
Tagged Division: Women in Engineering
Page Count: 16
Page Numbers: 23.1164.1 - 23.1164.16
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--22549
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/22549
Download Count: 392

Paper Authors

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Jennifer A. Skaggs American University in Cairo

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Assistant Professor in the Graduate School of Education and co-Director of the STEAM Center at The American University in Cairo, Egypt. Jennifer earned a Ph.D. in higher education with a concentration in gender studies from the University of Kentucky and received her MS in College Student Development from Miami University, OH. Her research focuses on: Student identity and development; Cultural issues in undergraduate STEM/STEAM education; International social foundations including epistemological beliefs related to critical pedagogy; Comparative international STEM/STEAM education, accessibility and policy; accreditation and assessment.

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Abstract

TENSION OF LEGACY: SELF-AUTHORSHIP OF FEMALE ENGINEERING STUDENTS AND THEIR PROFESSIONAL CHOICEBeing a successful female in engineering involves more than just mastering curriculum andtechnical competencies. It also involves learning how to negotiate one’s personal identity asone’s “professional engineering identity” is also being developed. For this to happen, it isessential to recognize technology and gender as socially constructed. Even as technology andengineering are male-dominated, engineering education is also a predominately masculineculture, resulting in few females pursuing engineering even though they have the ability anddesire to do so. By asking distinctive questions regarding how female undergraduate engineeringstudents perceive and negotiate their gender identities in the male gendered environment ofengineering education, this study allows for increased understanding of their identitydevelopment in relation to their future career choices. Where are these female students takingtheir engineering skills and credentials? While females work hard to persist and succeed in theirengineering programs, professional engineering positions are not necessarily an importantcomponent of future plans. For many females, their identity formation during their collegecareer, as they balance being a woman with being an engineer, is precarious resulting in anengineering exodus of females within the first five years of graduation.This current research drawn from a larger four year ethnographic case study of an undergraduateengineering program at a land grant Research I institution located in a region recognized for itsshortage of engineering, looks at the individual through lenses of context and institution, as wellas larger cultural paradigms. This research is significant in its use of feminist theory andqualitative methods to study engineering education permitting students to articulate theirexperiences in their own words and voices thus allowing for nuanced of meaning andunderstanding to emerge. Baxter Magolda’s (1999) theory of self-authorship provides theconceptual framework with inductive analysis will be used as the primary tool for data analysisBy utilizing Baxter-Magolda’s theory of self-authorship (1999) I will expound on the theme offemale engineering students career goals and aspirations and their developmental growth(cognitively, intrapersonally, interpersonally). The females in this study are developingepistemologically, alongside endeavoring to acquire the power to generate and author their owntruths as they listen to external voices of authority (including female engineering faculty) whendetermining for themselves what future paths to pursue. Becoming an engineer involves morethan just pursuing a career, for females it also includes added expectations of continuing thelegacy started by female engineering pioneers years ago.Effective engineering education is strategic in supporting students to achieve authentic identitydevelopment alongside increasing their technical skills. When all students believe theirpersonality and skills are good matches for their environment, their self- efficacy andcommitment to their academic and professional environment increases. Recognizing genderedpractices within engineering education and the larger engineering culture will assist in“stemming the tide” by challenging the masculine standard of engineering to change.

Citation
Format

Skaggs, J. A. (2013, June), Tension of Legacy: Self-Authorship of Female Engineering Students and Their Professional Choice Paper presented at 2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Atlanta, Georgia. 10.18260/1-2--22549

TY  - CPAPER
AB  -                 TENSION OF LEGACY: SELF-AUTHORSHIP OF               FEMALE ENGINEERING STUDENTS AND THEIR                         PROFESSIONAL CHOICEBeing a successful female in engineering involves more than just mastering curriculum andtechnical competencies. It also involves learning how to negotiate one’s personal identity asone’s “professional engineering identity” is also being developed. For this to happen, it isessential to recognize technology and gender as socially constructed. Even as technology andengineering are male-dominated, engineering education is also a predominately masculineculture, resulting in few females pursuing engineering even though they have the ability anddesire to do so. By asking distinctive questions regarding how female undergraduate engineeringstudents perceive and negotiate their gender identities in the male gendered environment ofengineering education, this study allows for increased understanding of their identitydevelopment in relation to their future career choices. Where are these female students takingtheir engineering skills and credentials? While females work hard to persist and succeed in theirengineering programs, professional engineering positions are not necessarily an importantcomponent of future plans. For many females, their identity formation during their collegecareer, as they balance being a woman with being an engineer, is precarious resulting in anengineering exodus of females within the first five years of graduation.This current research drawn from a larger four year ethnographic case study of an undergraduateengineering program at a land grant Research I institution located in a region recognized for itsshortage of engineering, looks at the individual through lenses of context and institution, as wellas larger cultural paradigms. This research is significant in its use of feminist theory andqualitative methods to study engineering education permitting students to articulate theirexperiences in their own words and voices thus allowing for nuanced of meaning andunderstanding to emerge. Baxter Magolda’s (1999) theory of self-authorship provides theconceptual framework with inductive analysis will be used as the primary tool for data analysisBy utilizing Baxter-Magolda’s theory of self-authorship (1999) I will expound on the theme offemale engineering students career goals and aspirations and their developmental growth(cognitively, intrapersonally, interpersonally). The females in this study are developingepistemologically, alongside endeavoring to acquire the power to generate and author their owntruths as they listen to external voices of authority (including female engineering faculty) whendetermining for themselves what future paths to pursue. Becoming an engineer involves morethan just pursuing a career, for females it also includes added expectations of continuing thelegacy started by female engineering pioneers years ago.Effective engineering education is strategic in supporting students to achieve authentic identitydevelopment alongside increasing their technical skills. When all students believe theirpersonality and skills are good matches for their environment, their self- efficacy andcommitment to their academic and professional environment increases. Recognizing genderedpractices within engineering education and the larger engineering culture will assist in“stemming the tide” by challenging the masculine standard of engineering to change.
AU  - Jennifer A. Skaggs
CY  - Atlanta, Georgia
DA  - 2013/06/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Tension of Legacy:  Self-Authorship of Female Engineering Students and Their Professional Choice
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/22549
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--22549
ER  -