2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Critical Analyses of the Experiences and Perspectives of Multiply-Marginalized Undergraduate Engineering Students

This full critical theory paper describes the results of a study designed to identify barriers encountered by undergraduate students experiencing cultural and structural marginalization in a prestigious engineering program. Existing research has identified many hindered academic outcomes experienced by undergraduate engineering students with marginalized social identities, including in this engineering college. This work aims to identify and investigate factors that are impeding their success using qualitative research methodologies. A team of researchers in the Midwestern United States designed a series of events, called the [program name redacted], with engineering students at a highly selective research institution. The student participants were all multiply-marginalized, which we define as meeting at least two of the following criteria: not white, not a man, not heterosexual, and working class (which we define as an annual family income less than $100,000 per year). Our data collection, research, and facilitation methods were designed to build toward collective empowerment, guided by liberative, or anti-oppressive, theories, frameworks, and practices.

The [program name redacted] program paid participants to participate in four events over the course of an academic year. The central activity of the first [program name redacted] event was focus groups with collaborative, facilitated conversations on the topics of belonging, recruitment and outreach, institutional diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, the classroom environment, mentoring, and conflict resolution. Participants were free to join the focus groups on topics that were of most interest to them. The focus groups were facilitated by graduate students trained by the project, and other graduate students provided note-taking services. Member-checking was employed on the notes later during the data analysis phase. The event concluded with a full-group visioning activity, in which the students were invited to build a collective vision of their desired experience in engineering education.

The results of the study offer insights into the common experiences of the participants from their collective point of view. Thematic analysis of the qualitative data highlighted four barriers to multiply-marginalized students’ successes within the engineering college: the impacts of their working class backgrounds, the poor mental health they were frequently experiencing, the “minority tax'' imposed on them, and tokenizing practices within the engineering college. By design, the event enabled participants to build collective understanding, empathy, and action across these overlapping experiences. This work provided an opportunity for the growth of critical consciousness in the participants as well as the facilitators, and the [program name redacted] also resulted in the initiation of tangible organizing efforts to construct just systems and realities for marginalized students in engineering. The results of this study identify problems that must be addressed by engineering programs hoping to serve diverse students. However, the study also offers insight into potential approaches for power-building amongst marginalized students, who are the best experts in their own experiences.

Authors

Dr. Corin L. Bowen http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0910-8902 California State University, Los Angeles [biography]

Corin (Corey) Bowen is an Assistant Professor of Engineering Education, housed in the Department of Civil Engineering at California State University - Los Angeles. Her engineering education research focuses on structural oppression in engineering systems, organizing for equitable change, and developing an agenda of Engineering for the Common Good. She teaches structural mechanics and sociotechnical topics in engineering education and practice. Corey conferred her Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor in April 2021; her thesis included both technical and educational research. She also holds an M.S.E. in aerospace engineering from the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor and a B.S.E. in civil engineering from Case Western Reserve University, both in the areas of structural engineering and solid mechanics.
Joseph Valle Purdue University at West Lafayette (COE) [biography]

Joseph 'Joey' Valle is a settler on the traditional and ancestral homelands of the Bodéwadmik (Potawatomi), Lenape (Delaware), Myaamia (Miami), and Shawnee People that Purdue University is built upon and near and a postdoctoral worker in the School of Engineering Education at Purdue University. Dr. Valle received a Ph.D in Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor after defending their thesis on Abolitionist Engineering: An Autoethnographic Approach to Understanding How Abolition Can Transform Materials Science and Engineering. They served as President of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) local Graduate Employees' Organization (GEO) 3550, the labor union representing graduate workers at University of Michigan, during the 2021-2022 academic year. Presently they work at intersections of equity and engineering workforce development in the ASPIRE (Advancing Sustainability through Powered Infrastructure for Roadway Electrification) Engineering Research Center.
Shannon M Clancy http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2779-0746 Elizabethtown College [biography]

Dr. Shannon M. Clancy (she/they) is an Assistant Professor of Engineering at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania. She earned all of her degrees in Mechanical Engineering: B.S. from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), M.S. from the University of Michigan, and her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan (U-M). They also received an Engineering Education Research Certificate during their time at U-M.

Her research interests include front-end design practices, sociotechnical knowledge and skills, and queer student experiences in engineering. They use qualitative methods and fields across engineering design, psychology, learning sciences, education, and STEM education to dive deeply into these topics, understanding the how’s and why’s of engineers’ experiences, decision-making, and sharing their stories.

Dr. Clancy is motivated by their passion for and experiences with equity-minded teaching and holistic mentorship of students as people and professionals. She particularly enjoys intertwining engineering technical practices and social implications to prepare students to become socially responsible engineers. She seeks to reimagine who can be an engineer, what engineering is, and the impact engineering has on society for a more equitable world.
Dr. Kaylla Cantilina http://orcid.org/https://0000-0002-8403-8617 Northeastern University [biography]

Kaylla is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the First Year Engineering program at Northeastern University. While her teaching is centered around supporting student holistic growth, culturally sustaining pedagogies, and intertwining sociotechnical content in engineering education, her research is motivated by design as a means for social justice, and making engineering more accessible and supportive for minoritized students. She has a deep interdisciplinary background with degrees in industrial design, political science, industrial operations engineering, and design science, and earned her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.

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