2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Those who do not conform to the ideology of the “ideal” normative human body/mind are often excluded from Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Lacking the diversity in experience and perspectives that diverse students, staff, and faculty bring to STEM impedes our society’s progress to a better world. The purpose of this work-in-progress (WIP) paper is to explore the experiences of dis/abled, queer, AFAB STEM graduate students navigating a culture of productivity in their educational journey. This WIP paper offers a narrow preview of the findings in a larger exploratory study. This paper begins to untangle some of the intricacies in a short narrative excerpt through a neoliberal-critical, ableism-critical, and queer lens. This paper offers an invitation to the STEM community to collectively reflect on and engage in conversation regarding our cultural norms and assumptions.