2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Excellence, Belonging, and the American Dream: An Auto-ethnography on Being International in Engineering

Presented at International Division (INTL) Technical Session #3: Student Perspectives

This research paper uses an auto-ethnographic approach to highlight experiences of women of color who are international in U.S. engineering workforce and classrooms. Three preliminary themes are highlighted in this paper. The first is the theme related to the notion of Excellence, and how the definitions of success for immigrating or international engineers may be tied to maintaining visa status. The second theme centers around the lack of Sense of Belonging expressed by participant-authors. The final theme was around Chasing the American Dream and the resultant sacrifices. We hope this paper not only provides an overview of some of the unique challenges faced by international women of color, but also drives more interest in better understanding this oft-overlooked group in engineering.

Authors
  1. Mrs. Indrani Sen Georgia Institute of Technology [biography]
  2. Dr. Columbia Mishra Maxar Technologies [biography]
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