2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Where are the women of Color professors?: Multicultural career sustainability utilizing participatory action research

Presented at Construction Engineering Division (CONST) Technical Session 5

Universities with a multicultural workforce positively impact the quality of services in professional development, mentorship, leadership, administration, advising, and the classroom learning environment. These valuable campus elements contribute to crafting students' learning outcomes and growth. Promoting the diversity of academic faculty may contribute to students of Color success [17]. Unfortunately, women of Color who are faculty remain acutely underrepresented in university faculty positions. Diversity within faculty members will not exhibit significant progress until 2080 based on current post-doc-to-faculty transition rates [9]. The paltry participation of women of Color students in construction and engineering programs correlates with the underrepresentation of women of Color faculty in these programs [5]. A report illustrated that Black/African American, Latina, and Native women comprise less than 3 percent of assistant professors, less than 2.5 percent of associate professors, and less than 1 percent of full professors [18]. The initial work of this paper will explore and synthesize research literature through critical consciousness lenses to continue illuminating the voices spoken by women of Color and making visible their challenges as faculty members. We present transformative, multidimensional, and participatory action research (PAR) approaches for academic institutions to incorporate, encourage, support, and expand women of Color faculty. PAR seeks collaboratively to comprehend social issues and action to bring about social change. Overall, we identify and summarize existing findings from previous research literature in which articles were selected relevant to women of Color challenges and PAR. The significance of this study is to contribute to building multicultural career sustainability with Women of Color in the construction and engineering education profession to bolster the empowerment and strengthen to increase the number of women of Color members, from students to professionals alike. The infancy stage of work will lay out the next steps in future work.

Authors

Cassandra Puletapuai Colorado State University [biography]

Cassandra Puletapuai is doctoral student at Colorado State University in the Education, Equity, and Transformation with an Emphasis in Construction Management, a graduate teaching assistant and graduate research assistant for the Construction Management Department. Her research interests include sociocultural and participatory action research practices that connect both the academy’s and industry’s vision for beneficial and tangible outcomes and increasing multicultural education, support, and competency in construction/engineering professional and academic spaces.
Dr. Daniel Birmingham Colorado State University [biography]

Associate Professor of STEM Education in the School of Education and Colorado State University. Dr. Birmingham's research examines potential avenues to bridge community and educational experiences in order to alter modes of participation in STEM and support transformative learning for students from traditionally marginalized communities. A central aspect of his research is focused on the design of collaborative forms of qualitative research necessary for expanding dialog on the enduring challenges we face in the areas of educational equity and opportunity in STEM education.
Dr. Rodolfo Valdes-Vasquez http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6971-1885 Colorado State University [biography]

Dr. Rodolfo Valdes-Vasquez is an Associate Professor and Graduate Program Coordinator in the Department of Construction Management at Colorado State University. His research, teaching, and engagement align with sustainable design and construction topics. He has received grant funding from federal and state agencies and private organizations. Rodolfo has taught multiple courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and he is well-versed in the scholarship of teaching. His efforts in leading the Sustainable Buildings program were recognized with the 2019 Award for Excellence in Education Abroad Curriculum Design. He has also worked as a construction project engineer, consultant, and safety inspector. He believes that educating the next generation of professionals will play a pivotal role in sustainability standard practices.

In terms of engagement, Dr. Valdes-Vasquez has served as the USGBC student club's adviser and the ASC Sustainability Team's faculty coach since 2013. He is currently serving as a CSU President's Sustainability Commission member, among multiple other committees. In addition, he is involved with various professional organizations at the national level, including the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), the Associated School of Constructions (ASC), the Construction Research Congress (CRC), and the Center for Infrastructure Transformation and Education (CIT-E). At the international level, he serves as the Associate Editor for the ASC International Journal of Construction Education and Research. He collaborates with faculty members in Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, and Spain.

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