Abstract:Young women remain underrepresented among engineering bachelor's degree holders. While there is a relatively large body of extant research on the many factors that curtail young women's interest in pursuing engineering, less is known about high school girls who are on an engineering pathway. Therefore, this study focuses on a select group of precollege young women who express a strong interest in engineering. Specifically, informed by theories of gender as a social system and previous empirical research, this … Show more
“…(p. 640)While many well‐meaning programs have worked to disrupt exclusionary expectations of female‐identified individuals, researchers have noted design choices that inadvertently perpetuate Discourses that reinforce masculine dominance, and this has been especially documented in engineering. In Nguyen et al's (2022) study of the experiences of young women in a precollege engineering program for girls, participants described the ways their male peers excluded their participation by designating some hands‐on tasks as “guys work” (p. 1460) and dominating problem‐solving in ways that were even endorsed by their mentors. Bystydzienski and Brown (2012) found that engineering recruitment strategies directed at young women offered only simplistic depictions of engineering, and the female role models students encountered occupied managerial, nurturing roles, rather than technical positions.…”
Section: Background and Theoretical Foundationsmentioning
How individuals come to perceive themselves in STEM is predicated on their understanding of what it means to be a member of the STEM community. This association is consequential when considering the perpetuation of white male ownership of STEM knowledge and power that forces learners identifying with groups systemically marginalized by racial and gender discrimination to adopt particular norms, values, and behaviors to gain recognition. In effect, these expectations help to maintain masculinized Discourses as STEM professionals are encultured to apply the same recognition criteria to which they were judged themselves. We examine how these Discourses are maintained even as learners who identify with groups that carry histories of systemic marginalization by racist, sexist, and elitist practices gain access to STEM communities. Specifically, we explore how university STEM students attending a Hispanic Serving Institution in the United States articulate gendered expectations of STEM membership through their characterization of themselves and others as (not) STEM people. Drawing from theories in Discourse, social identity, and feminist critiques of science, we describe how students implicitly recognize STEM identity in gendered ways. We discuss how our findings illuminate the mechanisms by which STEM recognition is afforded by pointing to its dependence on masculinized displays of STEM performances, competence, and interests, leading to a cycle of marginalization as learners are encultured to perpetuate existing STEM Discourses in their recognition of others. We discuss research implications for measurements of STEM identity that do not account for gendered Discourses and offer practical implications for the design of learning experiences that co‐opt existing Discourses to inoculate gendered perceptions of a STEM person prototype. Lastly, we present a case for elevating the role of maternal caregivers and family immigration histories in STEM identity construction.
“…(p. 640)While many well‐meaning programs have worked to disrupt exclusionary expectations of female‐identified individuals, researchers have noted design choices that inadvertently perpetuate Discourses that reinforce masculine dominance, and this has been especially documented in engineering. In Nguyen et al's (2022) study of the experiences of young women in a precollege engineering program for girls, participants described the ways their male peers excluded their participation by designating some hands‐on tasks as “guys work” (p. 1460) and dominating problem‐solving in ways that were even endorsed by their mentors. Bystydzienski and Brown (2012) found that engineering recruitment strategies directed at young women offered only simplistic depictions of engineering, and the female role models students encountered occupied managerial, nurturing roles, rather than technical positions.…”
Section: Background and Theoretical Foundationsmentioning
How individuals come to perceive themselves in STEM is predicated on their understanding of what it means to be a member of the STEM community. This association is consequential when considering the perpetuation of white male ownership of STEM knowledge and power that forces learners identifying with groups systemically marginalized by racial and gender discrimination to adopt particular norms, values, and behaviors to gain recognition. In effect, these expectations help to maintain masculinized Discourses as STEM professionals are encultured to apply the same recognition criteria to which they were judged themselves. We examine how these Discourses are maintained even as learners who identify with groups that carry histories of systemic marginalization by racist, sexist, and elitist practices gain access to STEM communities. Specifically, we explore how university STEM students attending a Hispanic Serving Institution in the United States articulate gendered expectations of STEM membership through their characterization of themselves and others as (not) STEM people. Drawing from theories in Discourse, social identity, and feminist critiques of science, we describe how students implicitly recognize STEM identity in gendered ways. We discuss how our findings illuminate the mechanisms by which STEM recognition is afforded by pointing to its dependence on masculinized displays of STEM performances, competence, and interests, leading to a cycle of marginalization as learners are encultured to perpetuate existing STEM Discourses in their recognition of others. We discuss research implications for measurements of STEM identity that do not account for gendered Discourses and offer practical implications for the design of learning experiences that co‐opt existing Discourses to inoculate gendered perceptions of a STEM person prototype. Lastly, we present a case for elevating the role of maternal caregivers and family immigration histories in STEM identity construction.
“…Studies (Lane et al, 2022;Nguyen et al, 2022) indicate a link between early engagement in STEM activities and an increase in the number of girls becoming women in STEM in the future. Motivations behind girls' interests in STEM can be girls who enjoy studying its subjects, such as innovation.…”
Section: Early Influences and Motivationsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Sjögren, 2015;Sultan, 2023). This could include professionals such as engineers, scientists, computer programmers, data analysts, and others who have a deep understanding and practical knowhow in their respective technical domains (Berner, 1999;Faulkner, 2009;Nguyen et al, 2022;Sultan et al, 2023). The term "technical" often implies a level of specialised knowledge and the ability to apply that knowledge to solve complex problems or tasks.…”
Section: The Technical Person As a Social Constructmentioning
comprises some thirty senior researchers, postdocs, and doctoral students in science and technology education, and also hosts FontD, the Swedish National Graduate School in Science and Technology Education. Research at TekNaD focuses, for example, on the history of school subjects; teaching content; conceptual understanding; analogies, models and representations; multimodality; digital tools; teacher and student attitudes; gender issues; and assessment. TekNaD and FontD jointly publish doctoral and licentiate theses in the series Studies in Science and Technology Education
“…In general, parents were described as engaging in ways that supported and affirmed children's interest (Cian et al, 2022; S. Pattison, Svarovsky, et al, 2020), sense of belonging (Nguyen et al, 2022), and recognition from others (Cian et al, 2022; Nguyen et al, 2022) as participants and learners within STEM. These constructs are shown to play a significant role in STEM identity development (e.g., Godwin, 2016).…”
BackgroundResearch points to family talk and interactions involving STEM concepts as one of the most influential informal learning experiences that shape an individual's STEM identity development and encourage their pursuit of a STEM career. However, a recent literature review uncovers limited research regarding the development of engineering identity in young children.PurposeThe purpose of this study was to add to this scant literature by exploring how children position themselves as engineers and how children are positioned as engineers through interactions with parents and other adults within a program focused on family engagement within an engineering design process.MethodsThis study includes two parent–child dyads. We collected and analyzed approximately 19.5 h of video data of the two child–parent dyads interacting with one another throughout an engineering design process as part of an out‐of‐school program.ResultsResults highlight three ways in which the two children enacted various engineering identities through their positioning, negotiation, and acceptance and/or rejection of positionalities as they engaged in an engineering design process with a parent. These identity enactments included (a) possessing knowledge and authority to make decisions regarding the development of their self‐identified engineering problem and prototype; (b) questioning and challenging adult ideas, solutions, and construction of prototypes; and (c) documenting and communicating their thinking regarding the engineering design through sketches and notes.ConclusionsThe significance of this study lies in its potential to change the landscape of those who pursue an engineering career and to contribute to the limited research and ongoing conversations about how to foster environments that support families in creative and collaborative learning specific to the engineering discipline.
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