A Review of the Literature Relevant to Engineering Identity

Abstract

The aim of this review is to summarize the use of identity in theory and practice in the existing literature and make suggestions for areas of future work in engineering education. Identity is complex, multi-faceted and changes over time. Intersectional identities of gender and race also complicate what it means to identify as an engineer. Furthermore, identity development and its relation to academic and career outcomes are important lenses for studying engineering student recruitment and retention, the impact of interventions, and diversity of a competitive STEM workforce. However, the usefulness of engineering identity is dependent on maintaining a clear definition of what the framework is (and is not), distinct from other identity theories. Researchers do not always make a clear distinction between "identity" and other more rigorously studied constructs such as self-efficacy. The use of the term "identity" as it relates to this review spans studies in psychology, sociology, education, cultural studies, anthropology, and social linguistics and culminates with more recent research in physics, math and engineering education. Relating factors that contribute to identity across these different bodies of literature is even more confusing when terms including agency, utility, motivation, beliefs, values, and attitudes are used seemingly interchangeably with engineering identity. Consistency in the language of engineering identity such that the construct can be used consistently and coherently is an apparent need. Despite the existence of validated scales on instruments such as Sustainability and Gender in Engineering (SaGE), engineering identity has not been conceptualized or measured directly to date. Increased attention to the connection between both qualitative and quantitative studies will further strengthen the character of engineering identity work.

Development and validation of the role identity surveys in engineering (RIS-E) and STEM (RIS-STEM) for elementary students

“…Efforts to attract and retain more girls and minorities in specific fields such as engineering rely on the extent to which these individuals see themselves as someone who does or can do engineering (Brickhouse, Lowery, & Schultz, 2000). Therefore, recent attention has focused specifically on engineering identity, though much of the research in this emergent field focuses on high school or post-secondary students (Capobianco, French, & Diefes-Dux, 2012;Patrick & Borrego, 2016), with less research on elementary students.…”

“…We drew from identity theory to inform the development of an engineering identity survey, with additional work conducted to adapt this instrument to a more general STEM context. Specifically, we focused on dimensions of one's role-or career-related identity, rather than personal (e.g., individual characteristics) and social (e.g., group membership characteristics) identities (Burke & Stets, 2009;Carlone & Johnson, 2007;Hazari et al, 2010;Patrick & Borrego, 2016;Stets et al, 2017). Our primary interest was in assessing aspects of role-related identity as this often encompasses roles undertaken as part of a career, and thus we do not include these other important aspects of identity.…”

“…The addition of engineering and STEM into school and outreach programs has led to increased focus on curriculum development with lesser focus on measures to assess impacts of such efforts on one's identity. Studies that examine the development of one's science and engineering identity often utilize interviews or casestudy methodology (Archer, Moote, Francis, DeWitt, & Yeomans, 2017;Aschbacher, Li, & Roth, 2010;Patrick & Borrego, 2016) which are less pragmatic for classroom or outreach settings with large numbers of students (Trujillo & Tanner, 2014). Many of the existing surveys that assess identity tend to target high school or postsecondary students (Godwin, Potvin, Hazari, & Lock, 2013;Hazari et al, 2013), with much less work on elementary and middle school students (DeWitt & Archer, 2015).…”

Board 120: Development of an Engineering Identity and Career Aspirations Survey for Use with Elementary Students

“…Studies that examine the development of one's engineering and science identity often utilize interviews or case-study methodology [8,[15][16]. While informative, such approaches often are not pragmatic in classroom settings with large numbers of students when the goal is to learn about or examine changes in students' STEM identities and aspirations in general or after using a STEM-related program or curriculum [17].…”

“…However, engineering identity formation is an emerging field, and much of the research to date has focused on high school or post-secondary students [7]. Efforts to attract and retain historically underrepresented youth in engineering rely on the extent to which these individuals see themselves as someone who does engineering [8]. As a result, recent research in engineering education focuses specifically on engineering identity [9,10].…”