2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Enhancing Reflexivity in Qualitative Data Analysis: A Methodological Approach for Studying Engineering Students

Presented at Conversations about Qualitative and Mixed Methods II

In this Full Method paper, we explain a procedure for reflexively analyzing qualitative data about engineering students. While reflexivity is crucial to understanding students’ perceptions, experiences, and choices, well-structured and replicable methods for incorporating reflective practices in studies of engineering students remain limited. To address this gap, we developed a protocol for enhancing reflexivity in engineering education qualitative data analysis. We demonstrate our systematic, transparent protocol method using example semi-structured interview data gathered from a larger study of engineering transfer students at Sunshine University (pseudonym), a large, public, selective, research-intensive university in Florida. To demonstrate the flexibility of the analytic protocol, the sample includes students from various backgrounds and engineering disciplines.

Our layered protocol is grounded in Reflexive Thematic Analysis and takes influences from intersectional and antideficit frameworks. To enhance reflexivity in the analysis, we used research team positionality statements and participant demographic characteristics as inputs for deeper attention in the protocol. Our data analysis protocol, titled Intersectional Reflexive Analysis Protocol (IRAP), is as follows: first, while qualitatively coding, the researcher identifies instances when a student discusses aspects of their background; second, the researcher reflects on the passage in their reflexive journal noting initial thoughts; third, the researcher creates a profile card for each participant while acknowledging intersecting identities. Our multistep protocol facilitates researcher reflexivity on their positionalities and the participants’ experiences.

Authors

Caroline Lubbe University of Florida [biography]

Caroline Lubbe is a Chemical Engineering Ph.D. candidate at the University of Florida. She earned a bachelor's in Chemical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame. At the University of Florida, she works with Dr. Sindia Rivera-Jiménez within the Engineering Communities & Participatory Change (ECoPaC) research group. Caroline's research interests include the adjustment experiences of engineering and computer science community college students after transfer to four-year institutions in Florida.
Dr. Sindia M. Rivera-Jiménez http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8325-1136 University of Florida [biography]

Dr. Rivera-Jiménez is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Engineering Education (EED) and an affiliate faculty to the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Florida. Her research focuses on understanding the role of engineering communities while enacting their agency in participatory and transformational change. She is particularly interested in broadening the participation of minoritized communities by studying the role of professional development in shaping organizational cultures. As an education practitioner, she also looks at evidence-based practices to incorporate social responsibility skills and collaborative and inclusive teams into the curriculum. Dr. Rivera-Jiménez graduated from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez with a B.S. and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering. She earned an NSF RIEF award recognizing her effort in transitioning from a meaningful ten-year teaching faculty career into engineering education research. Before her current role, she taught STEM courses at diverse institutions such as HSI, community college, and R1 public university.

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