2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Engineering Education Research (EER) has approached the category of mixed-race students as a precarious population within engineering. Due to the various selections available in demographic data, mixed-race students are often not counted in the numbers and resources available for students with minoritized identities [1]. Therefore, these students may be left behind or ‘invisibilized’ within engineering education. In particular, Asian American mixed-race students are challenged by the “Model Minority Myth” which intersects with their other non-Asian American racial/ethnic identity they hold. Asian American mixed-race students navigate a unique path in engineering due to their intersectional identities along with their other cultural and professional identities. Thus, we ask the following research question: What does it mean to be a mixed-race Asian American in engineering?
The purpose of this pilot study is to develop a foundation for a larger study on the experiences of mixed-race Asian American students in undergraduate engineering. In qualitative studies, pilot studies are utilized to develop more complex research studies for guiding research directions. Pilot studies can help qualitative researchers face unanticipated and incidental challenges early in the research process. Some of these challenges can: help refine research tools such as research questions and frameworks, create a flexible and iterative research design process, minimize researcher bias, and serve as indispensable gateways to unknown research spaces [2]. Reflecting on the design process through this pilot study can help narrow down specific questions, frameworks, and design choices.
In this pilot study, the leading author interviewed six mixed-race Asian American students
enrolled in undergraduate engineering to understand how they made sense of their identities (Asian American, mixed-race, and engineering). We were interested in understanding their experiences navigating engineering while being mixed-race Asian American students. We aim to use this study to achieve certain goals: (1) acquiring some general knowledge of mixed-race identity factors salient to students (due to the lack of research on mixed race students in general in engineering education); (2) experimenting with interview questions and refining them for later research; and (3) exploring what theoretical frameworks are viable for this research.
At this stage, we want to explore the feasibility of applying either Critical Multiracial Theory (MultiCrit) or Asian Critical Theory (AsianCrit) and evaluate to what extent and in what sense it could fit the goals of our research. MultiCrit has been guided by the Critical Race Theory (CRT) as a way to include mixed-race students as a population whose intersectional identities are often not considered in higher education [3]. While MultiCrit was developed for use in Higher Education, it has not been utilized empirically in Engineering Education Research as a theoretical framework. This work aims to add to larger discussions in the Engineering Education community regarding truly inclusive spaces for all underserved students.