2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Motivation
This complete research paper considers engineering identity formation. Attracting underrepresented students to engineering is important, and engineering identity plays a key role. Prior work shows that supporting engineering identity may increase retention, improve campus and workplace climate, and support women and minority students in engineering. On the other hand, ignoring engineering identity, or believing that it will develop naturally, disadvantages marginalized students. While a plethora of studies define, operationalize, and measure engineering identity, there is a paucity of studies that examine the ways students themselves experience engineering identity, and how this interacts with other facets of identity.

Background / Theory
This paper's purpose is to deeply understand how students experience engineering identity, and how that affects their professional choices. We adopt the definition that engineering identity is defined by perceptions of the self or perception of the engineering profession. Furthermore, we are sensitized by recent psychological work on identity language, which suggests that identity-oriented language (e.g., "let's be engineers") reinforces gender stereotypes, while action-oriented language (e.g., "let's do engineering") can mitigate such stereotypes. We seek to answer: How do individuals who practice engineering perceive themselves and the profession? How does this affect their professional choices?

Methods
We used collaborative autoethnographic (CAE) techniques to examine the experiences of two undergraduate students and their faculty advisor to investigate their understanding of their own personal identities, including but not limited to engineering identity. This was accomplished by individual reflection to explore individual identity formation, followed by group discussion and reflection. To promote Ethical Validation, the entire research team co-wrote and followed a set of ongoing informed consent rules that created a safe space for all participant-researchers.

Anticipated Results
Data collection and analysis will conclude in December 2025. Our initial findings reveal instances of underrepresented students grappling with the hostility of engineering to other facets of their identity, values, and community, and their use of action-oriented language ("[I'm] someone who does engineering [rather] than like an engineer") to accommodate engineering practice with their identity. We anticipate other instances that complicate the interaction of engineering identity with other facets. Furthermore, by situating a faculty member within the CAE, we anticipate discovering best practices for faculty to best support underrepresented students.