2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Brazilian educator Paolo Friere’s influential notion of “critical consciousness” [1] requires that subjects become aware of the complex systems of power and oppression in which they are enmeshed and develop a sense of social justice that leads them to take liberatory action. We investigate the question of whether coursework in women’s, gender and sexuality studies (WGSS) or ethnic studies empowers minoritized engineering students to develop critical consciousness relative to the culture of engineering. Our work investigates the influence of two such courses on student attitudes and motivation by gathering both qualitative and quantitative data from students in two STEM-themed courses in WGSS and ethnic studies, “Gender and STEM” and “Race and Technology.” We argue that in these courses students acquire skills that enable them to critically reflect on both the socially constructed nature of STEM and on the historical patterns within engineering culture that exacerbate existing inequities and injustice despite claims of “neutral” objectivity. In preliminary data, students report that these critical lenses on engineering are vision-clarifying and -broadening (reflecting the core concept of “meta-cognition” that underpins critical consciousness), and also motivate them to persist in and transform the culture of engineering (reflecting critical consciousness’ core value of movement toward justice-oriented action). As students develop a critical consciousness relative to engineering culture through their engagement with this coursework, their responses to instruments measuring “engineering identity” highlight and reveal the more specific ways in which this consciousness has developed. Our findings highlight the tremendous curricular power of interdisciplinary coursework and learning experiences that help engineering students develop critical consciousness within and about the culture of engineering.