2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Panel: Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Fellow Perspectives on Advancing Women and Gender Equity in Engineering - for the Next 130 Years

Presented at Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Fellow Perspectives on Advancing Women and Gender Equity in Engineering - for the Next 130 Years

In celebration of 130 years of the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE), the Women in Engineering Division (WIED) at ASEE convened a panel of current graduate students and postdoctoral scholars to discuss visions of gender equity in engineering 130 years from now, where all gender identities feel respected, experience gender equity, and are able to maintain a healthy work-life balance. The panelists reflected on their experiences on advancing womxn and gender equity in engineering, envisioned the progress that should be made in the coming 130 years, and shared ideas on how to achieve those visions, focusing on how dualistic thinking around gender and cis-normativity serve to marginalize womxn in engineering’s learning environments and workplaces, as well as the critical ways that racial identity and gender intersect in womxn of colors’ experiences. Presenters shared ways they are enacting structural changes and social justice initiatives to propel towards a more equitable future for all womxn in engineering. These reflections provide a perspective that is not commonly found in the current literature, and their conclusions provide insight into where future research efforts could be focused.

Authors

Dr. Baishakhi Bose Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory [biography]

Baishakhi Bose is currently a Postdoctoral Scholar at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL). Her current research focus is on life cycle assessment of novel polymers, building materials and plastic recycling processes. She obtained her PhD. in Materials Engineering from Purdue University in 2021. Since 2014, she has taught courses in Civil, Materials and First Year Engineering to undergraduates, and mentored undergraduate and graduate students in STEM to foster research and professional development skills. She also has relevant experiences in organizing undergraduate research symposium/conferences, hosting professional development workshops, providing guidance on undergraduate/graduate school application. Currently, she serves as a Teaching Scholar for the K-12 STEM Education Program at Berkeley Lab and is involved with curriculum development of K-12 outreach at LBNL.
Haleh Barmaki Brotherton http://orcid.org/https://0000-0002-3859-8752 Clemson University [biography]

Haleh Barmaki Brotherton is a graduate student in the Department of Engineering and Science Education at Clemson University. Her research interests include mental health, perfectionism, self-regulation, and decision-making. Her background is in Industrial Design and Industrial Engineering.
Theo Hopper University of Michigan [biography]

Theo Hopper is the Emmitt Memorial Assistant Teaching Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Bucknell University. They completed their PhD in biomedical engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. They received a B.S. in bioengineering from Endicott College, Beverly, Massachusetts, United States.
Pamela Martínez Oquendo University of Nebraska-Lincoln [biography]

Pamela Martínez Oquendo is a cis-gender, heterosexual female, and a Ph.D. candidate, focusing on Discipline-Based Education Research at the University and Nebraska-Lincoln. Her long-term goal is to disseminate science education knowledge by conducting outreach programs with the community to build bridges between research and education in the STEM fields. Her aim is to motivate and increase the number of students interested in pursuing schooling and careers in STEM-related areas. Pamela completed her Bachelor of Science at the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico.
Dr. Lily M. Wang P.E. http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5815-0317 University of Nebraska-Lincoln [biography]

Dr. Lily Wang is the Charles W. and Margre H. Durham Distinguished Professor of Engineering and Technology, and Director of the Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction in the College of Engineering at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Her primary research interests are in room acoustics and noise control, particularly human perception and performance in noise, classroom acoustics, uncertainty in acoustic measurements, and room acoustics computer modeling. Dr. Wang is a Fellow of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA); Board-Certified by the Institute of Noise Control Engineering; a Professional Engineer licensed in Acoustics through the state of Oregon; and a recipient of the ASA Hunt Postdoctoral Fellowship, ASA R. Bruce Lindsay Award, NSF CAREER Award, and ASHRAE Ralph G. Nevins Physiology and Human Environment Award. She has also received a number of teaching and mentoring awards, including the ASA Student Council Mentoring Award.
Margaret E.B. Webb Virginia Tech [biography]

Margaret (Maggie) Webb is a master's and Ph.D. student in sustainable land development (civil engineering) and engineering education, respectively, at Virginia Tech. She graduated with her mechanical engineering degree from Rice University and worked for ExxonMobil as a subsea engineer and as a high school STEM teacher in a Houston charter school before starting grad school. Her research interests include supporting the needs of displaced engineering students, understanding the supports and barriers to educational continuity for engineers in a disaster context, and preparing engineering students interdisciplinarity to address disasters in their work. She works as a graduate research assistant for the Virginia Tech Disaster Resilience and Risk Management interdisciplinary graduate program, as well as for the VT Center for Refugee, Migrant, and Displacement Studies.
Hannah Wilkinson Utah State University [biography]

Hannah Wilkinson is a graduate student in Engineering Education at Utah State University. She received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering in from the University of Utah.

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