WIP: Accomplices and Allies: The Role of Chosen Family in Empowering Engineering Students

Sowmya Panuganti; Justin Charles Major

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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: Educational Research and Methods Division (ERM) Technical Session 3
Tagged Division: Educational Research and Methods Division (ERM)
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/48286

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Paper Authors

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Sowmya Panuganti Purdue University

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Sowmya Panuganti is a graduate student in Engineering Education at Purdue University. She is interested in understanding how engineering culture effects students' mental health and well-being.

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biography

Justin Charles Major Rowan University orcid.org/0000-0002-3111-8509

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Dr. Justin C. Major (he/him) is an Assistant Professor of Experiential Engineering Education at Rowan University where he leads ASPIRE Lab (Advancing Student Pathways through Inequality Research in Engineering). Justin’s research focuses on engineering belonging and marginalization mechanisms, adverse childhood experiences, and feminist approaches to EER, and connects these topics to broader understandings of student success in engineering. Justin completed his Ph.D. in Engineering Education (’22) and M.S. in Aeronautics and Astronautics (’21) at Purdue University, and two B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and Secondary Mathematics Education at the University of Nevada, Reno (’17). Atop his education, Justin is a previous NSF Graduate Research Fellow and has won over a dozen awards for research, service, and activism related to marginalized communities, including the 2020 ASEE ERM Division Best Diversity Paper for his work on test anxiety. As a previous homeless and food-insecure student, Justin is eager to challenge and change engineering engineering education to be a pathway for socioeconomic mobility and broader systemic improvement rather than an additional barrier.

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Abstract

This work-in-progress research paper investigates the trait differences of individuals supporting engineering students. This paper is part of a larger study investigating the intersectional inequalities engineering students face and how barriers to their participation are mitigated through the help of their chosen families. “Chosen family” is a term used to describe the families students choose as opposed to the families they are born with (traditional family). Emerging literature suggests that students, especially those who are from (multi)marginalized groups, seek out chosen families to obtain resources that they are unable to access otherwise, leading students to greater success in college. Our work has identified chosen family as individuals outside of the person’s traditional family with individual or organizational power who use that power to genuinely, and empathetically, support and uplift the person leading to stronger feelings of belonging. A crucial component of our definition, the use of power, has led us to explore the strength of one’s power usage in supporting students. Literature refers to these individuals amongst two categories: “allies” and “accomplices.” Here, allies provide support and attempt to empathize with one’s situation. Meanwhile, accomplices go out of their way, putting themselves in intellectual, social, or even physical danger to provide support and actively uplifts. We theorize that many of the chosen family members in our work act as accomplices to students to help them succeed in engineering and daily life.

Building upon previous work, we utilize the results from a pilot survey administered to mid-Atlantic engineering students to investigate our hypothesis. In our original survey, we identified who students saw as part of their families, and to what degree via a series of social justice-oriented traits that we linked to our definitions of allies and accomplices. Through regression, we aim, in the present study, to understand the trait differences students identify between chosen and traditional families. Understanding engineering students’ support systems and the traits of the people whom they identify as making a difference could lead to university initiatives that may lead to increased student retention and performance.

Citation
Format

Panuganti, S., & Major, J. C. (2024, June), WIP: Accomplices and Allies: The Role of Chosen Family in Empowering Engineering Students Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/48286

TY - CPAPER
AB -
This work-in-progress research paper investigates the trait differences of individuals supporting engineering students. This paper is part of a larger study investigating the intersectional inequalities engineering students face and how barriers to their participation are mitigated through the help of their chosen families. “Chosen family” is a term used to describe the families students choose as opposed to the families they are born with (traditional family). Emerging literature suggests that students, especially those who are from (multi)marginalized groups, seek out chosen families to obtain resources that they are unable to access otherwise, leading students to greater success in college. Our work has identified chosen family as individuals outside of the person’s traditional family with individual or organizational power who use that power to genuinely, and empathetically, support and uplift the person leading to stronger feelings of belonging. A crucial component of our definition, the use of power, has led us to explore the strength of one’s power usage in supporting students. Literature refers to these individuals amongst two categories: “allies” and “accomplices.” Here, allies provide support and attempt to empathize with one’s situation. Meanwhile, accomplices go out of their way, putting themselves in intellectual, social, or even physical danger to provide support and actively uplifts. We theorize that many of the chosen family members in our work act as accomplices to students to help them succeed in engineering and daily life.

Building upon previous work, we utilize the results from a pilot survey administered to mid-Atlantic engineering students to investigate our hypothesis. In our original survey, we identified who students saw as part of their families, and to what degree via a series of social justice-oriented traits that we linked to our definitions of allies and accomplices. Through regression, we aim, in the present study, to understand the trait differences students identify between chosen and traditional families. Understanding engineering students’ support systems and the traits of the people whom they identify as making a difference could lead to university initiatives that may lead to increased student retention and performance.

AU - Sowmya Panuganti
AU - Justin Charles Major
CY - Portland, Oregon
DA - 2024/06/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - WIP: Accomplices and Allies: The Role of Chosen Family in Empowering Engineering Students
UR - https://peer.asee.org/48286
ER -