2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

WIP: Exploring the Mental Health Challenges of Asian LGBTQIA+ Students in Engineering

The purpose of this WIP research is to explore the mental health challenges faced by Asian LGBTQIA+ students in engineering programs. Heavy workloads and strong competition cause a significant stress culture in engineering. Asian LGBTQIA+ engineering students face unique mental health struggles as both racial and sexual minorities. While Asians are often overrepresented in STEM fields, they are simultaneously underrepresented in discussions about marginalization (Yang et al., 2023). Most previous LGBTQIA + research has similarly focused on white individuals, leaving a significant gap in understanding the experiences of Queer People of Color (QPOC) (Jennings et al., 2020). Therefore, it is crucial to study this topic to address the unique intersectional challenges faced by Asian LGBTQIA+ students in engineering and to promote more inclusive mental health support.

This study utilizes Minority Stress Theory (Meyer, 2003) and Intersectionality (Crenshaw, 2013) as the main theories and uses qualitative methods, especially in-depth interviews, to better understand the unique pressure and isolation faced by Asian LGBTQIA+ engineering students and try to figure out how to provide more helpful and customized support for them. We interviewed 2 Asian LGBTQIA+ engineering students and analyzed the transcripts using in vivo and concept codes (Saldaña, 2021). Preliminary analysis of these interviews suggests that Asian culture and queer identity are both barriers for Asian LGBTQIA+ engineering students feeling a sense of belonging to their engineering programs, strengthening their recognition and acceptance of their intersecting identities, and seeking help for mental health issues.

This study addresses and dismantles oppressive education systems and promotes environments where marginalized students can thrive, which aligns with the Equity, Culture, and Social Justice (ECSJ) Division's mission.

Authors

Wanpeng Xu Arizona State University, Polytechnic Campus [biography]

Wanpeng Xu is a PhD student in Engineering Education at Arizona State University, where his research focuses on the experiences of the LGBTQIA+ community within engineering education and the application of artificial intelligence in engineering education.

Wanpeng has five years of professional experience in marketing and advertising, specializing in utilizing big data to optimize marketing strategies and drive business decisions. His unique combination of industry expertise and academic research enables him to explore innovative intersections between business, technology, and education.
Dr. Nadia N. Kellam http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9327-1226 Arizona State University [biography]

Nadia Kellam (she/they) is Associate Professor of Engineering and the Associate Director for Research Excellence within The Polytechnic School of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University. She is a faculty in the Engineering Education Systems and Design PhD program. Dr. Kellam is an engineering education researcher and a mechanical engineer. She is also deputy editor of the Journal of Engineering Education and co-chair of ASEE’s Committee on Scholarly Publications. In her research, she is broadly interested in developing critical understandings of the culture of engineering education and, especially, the experiences of marginalized undergraduate engineering students and engineering educators.

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 22, 2025, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 25, 2025

For those interested in:

engineering
LGBTQIA+
race/ethnicity