2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

A Critical Examination of ASEE’s Diversity Recognition Program to Promote Changed Practices at PostSecondary Institutions

Presented at Equity, Culture & Social Justice in Education Division (EQUITY) Technical Session 13

In order to inform a potential partnership around the discussion of silenced voices within systemic processes, we examine the ASEE Diversity Recognition Program (ADRP) as a step towards amplifying reflexive and critical activities already occurring within ASEE. In light of recent concern over the ADRP as a means of disrupting minority marginalization in Engineering, we reflect on the origins of the program as well as how to proactively shift the program’s cultural context to one of greater criticality about DEI in Engineering, broadly. To investigate this more deeply, our research questions for this study were: What have other organizations used to “annoint” member organizations that meet specific thresholds within engineering? What have other organizations used to “annoint” member institutions that meet a DEI threshold in particular and how else might institutions signal or confirm reaching that bar? How does the ADRP engage with and/or obscure the deepest currents of inequity operating in engineering education? This investigation is important to understand avenues for promoting DEI within postsecondary engineering institutions of all kinds, to help ensure that these institutions think critically about what their own campus can/should commit to and how their pledges/plans can disrupt stubborn systems of oppression. It further provides a basis for considering when and if it is appropriate for existing entities such as the ASEE to provide stamps of approval for DEI work, while also probing the natural tension between institutions wanting earnestly to earn a “badge of approval” regarding equity and the degree to which transformative practices are actually embraced to alter and reverberate throughout these institutions.

Authors

Prof. Amy Slaton Drexel University [biography]

Amy E. Slaton is a Professor Emerita of History at Drexel University. She writes on issues of identity in STEM education and labor, and is the author of _Race, Rigor and Selectivity in U.S. Engineering: The History of an Occupational Color Line_.
Mrs. Kayla R. Maxey http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2341-3866 Purdue University, West Lafayette [biography]

Mrs. Kayla Maxey is a Postdoctoral Research Associate and active member of the American Society for Engineering Education’s Commission on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Mrs. Maxey’s lived experience as "one of a few" motivated her to complete her doctorate in Engineering Education at Purdue University and her work focuses on creating and sustaining cultures of inclusive excellence in STEM learning environments and professional pathways through the examination of ideological assumptions and values that sustain systemic inequities in educational outcomes. She has designed and supervised a number of STEM activities (e.g., seminars, courses, and camps) based on the findings of her study and actively supports STEM educators in reforming their practices to promote equity and inclusion. Her work advocates for STEM learning and professional settings that elevate and empower students, staff, and educators as change agents and industry leaders. She formerly worked as a lecturer in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis (IUPUI) and spent over a decade working on a range of medical device innovations, including neural bypass technologies, assistive devices, diagnostic testing equipment, and pharmaceutical devices. Mrs. Maxey earned a B.S. in Bioengineering from Syracuse University, where she was a Heptathlete on the Track and Field team. She also earned her M.S. in Healthcare Technology Management from Marquette University.
Dr. Monica McGill http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3096-9619 CSEdResearch.org [biography]

Monica McGill is Founder and CEO of CSEdResearch.org. Her area of scholarship is computer science education research with a current focus on diversity and improving the quality of research to examine effective practices on a large scale. She oversaw the recent development of the robust K-12 CS Education Research Resource Center with manually curated data from over 1,000 article summaries and a list of over 180 instruments for evaluating STEM education.
Jordan Williamson [biography]

Jordan Williamson graduated with a BA in English from the University of Texas at Austin. Her research interests center on minority experiences in the American Education System.

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