2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

From MacGyver to Howard Wolowitz to Tony Stark, depictions of engineers cultivated in popular media reinforce cultural understandings of engineering. These depictions can have a profound impact on public perceptions of engineering as well as on who chooses to enter the engineering profession. While the underrepresentation of non-white and non-male individuals remains a persistent and critical problem at all levels of engineering, engineering educators must take a critical look at how the profession is being depicted in popular media and the influence of these narratives on broadening participation efforts in engineering. Drawing on feminist narrative theory and themes from feminist media studies, in this paper I explore several key depictions of engineers on modern television. By analyzing character and casting, genre, plot, and narrative worlds of three television with engineers as main characters (MacGyver, The 100, and The Expanse) I reveal how they all, in different ways, perpetuate problematic ideologies (e.g., meritocracy) within engineering even when providing much-needed representation of engineers as women of color. As we strive to make engineering more inclusive, educators must grasp the cultural meanings associated with the profession. Understanding these cultural nuances is key to understanding who enters the field and the perceptions of students as they enter our classrooms.