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Work in Progress: Moving Beyond Research: Supporting Engineering and Computing Identity Development for Latina Students

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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

Virtual Mentoring Program, Listening to Those That Matter, Moving Beyond Research, and Career Outcomes Tracking

Tagged Division

Minorities in Engineering Division(MIND)

Tagged Topic

Diversity

Page Count

6

DOI

10.18260/1-2--44316

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/44316

Download Count

193

Paper Authors

biography

Sarah Rodriguez Virginia Tech Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0002-3409-7096

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Sarah L. Rodriguez is an Associate Professor of Engineering Education and an affiliate faculty member with the Higher Education Program at Virginia Tech. In her research, she concentrates on identifying and asking urgent questions about systemic inequities such as racism, sexism, and classism that marginalized communities experience as they transition to and through their engineering and computing higher education experiences.

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Abstract

Latina students are entering institutions of higher education at greater rates than ever, yet they remain underrepresented in engineering and computing. Engineering and computing contexts may be particularly difficult to navigate due to their environments being entrenched in exclusionary, masculine, competitive, and identity-evasive practices (e.g. Secules, 2019; Rodriguez & Lehman, 2018). This scholarly paper serves as a research to practice guide for translating elements of engineering and computing identity development for Latina students into holistic, actionable approaches for equitable outcomes. It is intended to generate discussion and engagement with a multi-prong approach to engineering and computing identity development among scholars and practitioners. The primary charge of this work is to share concrete strategies for how educational stakeholders can support engineering and computing identity development practices, policies, and collaborations for Latina students as they progress through their educational journeys.

The paper will explore identity development within and outside of the classroom by investigating the teaching and curriculum as well as advising and support changes needed to support Latina students in these fields. In addition, the paper will explore how college leaders can act as catalysts of change and community building to facilitate a multi-prong approach to enhancing engineering and computing identity development for Latina students. It will include a call to action to higher education practitioners for an integrated, assets-based approach to engineering and computing identity development that draws upon identity theory and research, community cultural wealth as well as funds of knowledge and identity. This call to action will be dually articulated around a distinctly Chicana Feminist (Anzaldúa, 1987; Anzaldúa & Moraga, 1981) approach to enhancing engineering and computing, including a recognition of the multiple borderlands of experience that Latina students may find themselves at during this identity development process.

Rodriguez, S. (2023, June), Work in Progress: Moving Beyond Research: Supporting Engineering and Computing Identity Development for Latina Students Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--44316

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