2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

The transition from school to work is one of the most significant changes in a person's life, impacting their progress in both personal and professional endeavors. We present this work-in-progress paper as a scoping review aimed at identifying what is known about the experiences of Queer engineering students transitioning into the workforce. We conducted a search on engineering databases to gather relevant articles within the scope of our research. To conduct this scoping review, we have employed the five-stage framework developed by Arksey and O'Malley, which offers a systematic approach. Our research question aims to focus on exploring the existing literature on the experiences of Queer engineering graduates as they transition to the workforce, specifically within the context of the United States. The five-stage framework comprises the following steps: 1) identifying the research question; 2) identifying relevant studies; 3) selecting studies based on predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria; 4) charting the data, extracting key findings, identifying recurring themes 5) collating, and summarizing, and reporting the results. The ultimate objective of this paper is to provide a clear and descriptive summary of the existing knowledge related to the research question: “What is the current literature landscape regarding the experiences of Queer engineering students transitioning to the workforce in the United States?"

This paper delves into the tools and framework employed for the study and provides an overview of the current literature landscape. Our ultimate intention is to uncover the prevailing trends within literature, examine existing theories, and pinpoint potential gaps in the research. The purpose of showcasing this work at the conference is to initiate discussions on established literature concerning queer engineering graduates. We anticipate that future efforts, informed by the insights gained during the conference, will contribute to a thorough and systematic review of the transition experienced by the queer engineering workforce, ultimately fostering the development of a stronger engineering workforce.