2023 Collaborative Network for Computing and Engineering Diversity (CoNECD)

Title: Walking Between Two Worlds: Creating a Framework for Conducting Research with University Indigenous Communities
Keywords: Race/Ethnicity; Identity; Cross-Cultural Research; Engineering
Abstract: Although the National Academy of Engineering has recognized the need for the perspectives of Indigenous people in the engineering profession (NAE, 2006), Indigenous students in the United States continue to be one of the most underrepresented and minoritized groups in engineering. While Native Americans make up 1.2% of the country’s population, only 397 or 0.3% of engineering bachelor’s degrees were awarded to Native Americans in 2020 and only 1,587 Native Americans were even enrolled in engineering undergraduate programs out of over 600,000 total students (ASEE, 2021). Because of these numbers, the limited research exploring Indigenous people in engineering mostly focuses on the recruitment and retention of Indigenous engineering students. However, most of this research focuses on individual-level experiences and fails to address the unique systemic issues impacting this population. The authors have worked to create a methodology that bridges this gap by connecting the individual student story to the systemic structures that impact their experience, in a way that honors and amplifies Indigenous ways of thinking and doing. The study utilized Indigenous narrative methods to explore how colonialism and the structures of non-Native institutions and engineering programs impact the lived experiences of Indigenous engineering students. The framework can be illustrated using the traditional engineering design of wattle and daub structures that were commonly used for homes in Mississippian cultures in North America. This technique builds a wattle frame by weaving thin branches between upright stakes. In this research design, the horizontal rungs represent the theoretical framework utilized as the underlying support for the entire study. The vertical stakes represent the research questions being explored in the study. The daub for the structure is typically a mud-like mixture of binders and aggregates. Applying the daub to the wattle represents the data collection methods in the study as providing structure for the wall. This framework utilizes three primary forms of data: document analysis of university and program policies and structures, discussions with the university “Council of Elders” in the Indigenous community that were a combination of a western focus group methodology and an Indigenous talking circle, and individual conversations/interviews with Indigenous engineering students. Analyzing the collected data is represented by smoothing the applied daub on the wall. This framework demonstrates how to work with Indigenous communities, particularly a university Indigenous community, in a way that is reciprocal and mindful of Indigenous methods within the western structures of academia. In this presentation, we will describe each section of the methodology, the lessons learned throughout the process, and recommendations for future use of this framework in other contexts. The presentation will also highlight the personal reflections of the Indigenous scholar bridging this gap between western academia and traditional Indigenous knowledge herself as a researcher and student walking within the two worlds.