2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Academic makerspaces are physical locations that help support engineering classroom instruction and provide exposure to workplace skills like prototyping and design. Makerspace proponents have championed equitable makerspaces as sites for increased access to tools and knowledge in science and engineering. However, this promise is yet to be realized, with an emerging body of work critiquing the notion they are delivering equitable benefits to all students (Huber et al., 2021; Kye, 2020; Vossoughi et al., 2016). Democratization cannot be realized without the full participation of a diverse student population. Following the work of Hagerty et al. (1992), full participation is characterized by individuals’ sense of belonging in these spaces. To break down the forces that exclude underrepresented groups in academic makerspaces, Villanueva Alarcón et al. (2021) claim that the intentional creation of a culture of belonging is necessary.

Therefore, this study focuses on understanding the sense of belonging of women engineering students in different academic makerspaces. Although prior work has explored the culture of belonging within makerspaces, it is often centered on the staff or administrator perspective. Few studies have addressed the factors impacting students’ sense of belonging from their point of view. To explore this question, we interviewed four women engineering students that were involved in different makerspaces at a large public, research-intensive university in the Midwest. Using the work of Hagerty et al. (1992) and Villanueva Alarcón et al. (2021) as a theoretical framework to inform the interview protocol and analysis. The interview data were analyzed to identify similarities and differences across participants’ experiences and perceptions of belonging. A round of open coding was conducted to identify the emerging themes from the data. Then the data was analyzed using the sense of belonging framework from Hagerty et al. (1992).

Results from this analysis show that as women increased their level of making experience, either prior to entering the space or during their time in the makerspace, the factors that signaled their belonging changed. Students with little prior experience saw their belonging as a function of the amount of time they spent in the space, while more experienced participants tied their belonging to social aspects or to the purpose of the space. The findings from this study provide an interesting point of reflection for makerspace staff to consider when creating a makerspace that encourages belonging. Understanding that users, depending on their previous experiences, identity, and time spent in the makerspace environment, perceive their belonging differently suggests a variety of interventions is needed. Consciously creating a makerspace with the differences in users’ sense of belonging in mind could promote an enhanced culture of belonging in their spaces for women.