2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

EDU Racial Equity Year 3: A Professional Development Program in Examining Whiteness in Engineering

Presented at NSF Grantees Poster Session II

This EDU Racial Equity project, funded by the National Science Foundation, aims to shift the way faculty understand racial equity in engineering education. Rather than treating “underrepresentation” as the result of an inherent deficit in people of color, this project explores the ways the invisible and normalized nature of Whiteness in engineering has led to systemic barriers for students and faculty of color. We find that these barriers are consistently ignored, making it difficult to identify, challenge, and (re)imagine racial equity in engineering. In order to challenge the hegemonic discourse of Whiteness, engineering faculty must develop the ability to see and name these invisible forces. Our milestones for achieving this goal include: 1) conducting a collaborative autoethnography; 2) creating a development program focusing on fostering and developing critical consciousness to reveal these underpinnings of engineering culture; and 3) engaging engineering faculty, staff, and students to critically reflect on their own positionality, question structures of power (such as the social, cultural, historical and political effects of Whiteness in engineering), and become change agents for racial equity in engineering education.

In Year 3 of our project, we have developed and launched our professional development program. Our 8-session program is open to any graduate student, staff, or faculty member of any rank who is currently affiliated with an engineering program at a U.S.-based academic institution. The program is designed to help participants understand, critically examine, and take action regarding Whiteness in their professional environments. The program uses Bloom’s taxonomy to progress from foundational knowledge to application and critical reflection, while also incorporating the stages of racial identity consciousness. The first cohort will meet monthly online to explore topics including but not limited to: racial equity, Whiteness in engineering spaces, unpacking privilege and challenging Whiteness, embracing racial identity, building inclusive engineering cultures, advancing critical consciousness, and implementing change in engineering practice. The sessions aim to blend theoretical understanding, reflective activities, and practical applications. We hope to help participants build a network of peers who fight for racial equity, discover ways to persist and thrive in White academia, and expand their research portfolio to incorporate what they have learned about critical consciousness and racial equity.

Authors

Dr. Diana A. Chen http://orcid.org/https://0000-0003-3616-1538 University of San Diego [biography]

Diana A. Chen, PhD is an Associate Professor and one of the founding faculty members of Integrated Engineering at the University of San Diego. She earned her BS in Engineering from Harvey Mudd College, and MS and PhD in Civil Engineering from Clemson University. In collaboration with colleagues, Dr. Chen is designing a new engineering curriculum to educate changemakers who understand that engineering is an inherently socio-technical activity. Her passion is studying and encouraging culture change in engineering curricula and spaces to shift engineering to be a field more inclusive of diversity in all forms. Her scholarly interests include engineering education that contextualizes engineering sciences and design, exploring engineering boundaries for inclusive pedagogy, and sustainability and bio-inspired design in the built environment.
Dr. Joel Alejandro Mejia http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3908-9930 University of Cincinnati [biography]

Dr. Joel Alejandro (Alex) Mejia is a Professor of Engineering Education in the Department of Engineering &Computing Education at the University of Cincinnati. Prior to working in academia, he worked as a project engineer for the Department of Defense, Rio Tinto, and FLSmidth Minerals. Dr. Mejia’s work seeks to analyze and describe the assets, tensions, contradictions, and cultural collisions many Latino/a/x students experience in engineering through pláticas and testimonios. His research has contributed to the integration of critical theoretical frameworks in engineering education to investigate deficit ideologies and their impact on minoritized communities. He is particularly interested in approaches that contribute to a more expansive understanding of engineering in sociocultural contexts, engineering education in bilingual contexts, and the impact of critical consciousness in engineering practice.
Prof. Gordon D Hoople http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2663-4664 University of San Diego [biography]

Dr. Gordon D. Hoople is an assistant professor and one of the founding faculty members of integrated engineering at the University of San Diego. He is passionate about creating engaging experiences for his students. His work is primarily focused on two ar
Dr. R. Jamaal Downey [biography]

Dr. Downey is an Assistant Research Scientist at the University of San Diego. He received his Ph.D. in Language, Literacy, and Culture in Education from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Dr. Downey focuses on critical qualitative inquiry with a discerning eye toward humanizing and culturally sustaining pedagogies. Currently, he is focused on uncovering and exposing scripts of whiteness within engineering education with an end goal to devise faculty development.

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

« View session