2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Narratives of Identity Coherence and Separation in the Figured Worlds of Undergraduate Engineering Education

Presented at Equity, Culture & Social Justice in Education Division (EQUITY) Technical Session 12

During their engineering programs, undergraduate students participate in the culture of engineering education to make meaning of themselves as they form professional identities. In this paper, we draw from Holland and colleagues’ theory of identity, agency, and figured worlds to further understand how undergraduate students make meaning of their identities as they participate in the figured world of engineering education. Our thematic narrative analysis revealed two types of narratives: (1) Narratives of Coherence that highlight the ways participants reconfigure normative identity roles in figured worlds to make space for their minoritized identities within engineering education, and (2) Narratives of Separation where participants maintain normative identity roles by either intentionally or unintentionally separating their minoritized identities from engineering activities. These findings point to strategies of perspective-building for supporting students and providing opportunities for contributing to a broader culture of inclusion in engineering classrooms.

Authors

Gabriel Van Dyke Utah State University [biography]

Gabriel Van Dyke is a Graduate Student and Research Assistant in the Engineering Education Department at Utah State University. His current research interests are engineering culture and applying cognitive load theory in the engineering classroom. He is currently working on an NSF project attempting to improve dissemination of student narratives using innovative audio approaches. Gabe has a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Utah State University (USU).
Dr. Cassandra McCall http://orcid.org/https://0000-0002-0240-432X Utah State University [biography]

Cassandra McCall, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Engineering Education Department at Utah State University. Her research centers the intersection identity formation, engineering culture, and disability studies. Her work has received several awards including best paper awards from the Journal of Engineering Education and the Australasian Journal of Engineering Education. She holds a Ph.D. in Engineering Education from Virginia Tech as well as M.S. and B.S. degrees in civil engineering from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.
Maimuna Begum Kali http://orcid.org/https://0000-0003-1770-7363 Florida International University [biography]

Maimuna Begum Kali is a Ph.D. candidate in the Engineering and Computing Education program at the School of Universal Computing, Construction, and Engineering Education (SUCCEED) at Florida International University (FIU). She earned her B.Sc. in Computer Science and Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET). Kali's research interests center on exploring the experiences of marginalized engineering students, with a particular focus on their hidden identity, mental health, and wellbeing. Her work aims to enhance inclusivity and diversity in engineering education, contributing to the larger body of research in the field.
Dr. Stephen Secules http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3149-2306 Florida International University [biography]

Stephen is an Assistant Professor Engineering and Computing Education at Florida International University. He has a prior academic and professional background in engineering, having worked professionally as an acoustical engineer. He has taught several courses on design, sociotechnical contexts, and engineering education. He runs the Equity Research Group which incorporates qualitative, ethnographic, participatory, and action-oriented research methods to examine and improve equity in engineering education contexts.

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