Unwelcoming Classroom Climates: The Role of Gender Microaggressions in CTE

Abstract

6 This chapter reviews the literature, gender and CTE, classroom climate, and faculty-student interactions and presents results of a qualitative study on gender microaggressions in community college CTE classrooms.Career and technical education (CTE) programs at the community college have a significant history. Arguably beginning with the passage of the Vocational Education Act of 1963, vocational education, as a precursor to CTE, has remained a prominent aspect of the mission of U.S. community colleges. The number of students in CTE in community colleges is substantial. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), in 2004-2005, more than 2,000 U.S. 2-year institutions awarded a postsecondary credential in one or more CTE fields of study (Levesque et al., 2008). During the same year, 64% of students seeking associate degrees and 81% of students in certificate programs majored in occupational fields (Levesque et al.). Occupational programs, which are typically certificate granting and noncredit, often serve as gateway programs into CTE accounting for an additional 5 million individuals in fall 2008, representing 40% of community college student enrollment (Levesque et al.).Although women tend to dominate CTE enrollments, they remain concentrated into historically feminized fields; the U.S. Department of Labor defines nontraditional occupations for females as those where females make up less than 25% of workers. The U.S. Department of Labor found that in 2012, women made up less than 2% of electricians, automotive service technicians, and less than 5% of welders (U.S. Department of Labor, 2012). A recent report by American Association for University Women (St. Rose & Hill, 2013) states, "Men were more likely than women to earn certificates as welders, electricians, and heating/AC/ventilation (HVAC) and automotive technicians-jobs that offer much higher wages than those popular among NEW DIRECTIONS FOR COMMUNITY COLLEGES, no. 178, Summer 2017

Women, Community Colleges, and STEM Careers

“…Support systems continue to be a critical part of community college women's pursuit of STEM degrees. Although two‐year colleges may present an encouraging and supportive environment for women in STEM, our findings align with the limited work revealing the opposite (e.g., Lester et al., ). Gendered attitudes, behaviors, and less than warm environments continue to exist in the community college.…”

“…Several studies suggest that community colleges provide encouraging, diverse, and supportive environments for women in STEM (Jackson & Laanan, ; Packard et al., ; Starobin & Laanan, ) and particularly women of color in STEM (Jackson, , , ; Reyes, ; Valenzuela, ). There are a few exceptions in technical or vocational STEM fields (e.g., Lester, Struthers, & Yamanaka, ). Faculty, advisors, and peers are cited as major sources of inspiration, motivation, and support (Jackson & Laanan, ; Packard et al., ; Starobin et al., ).…”

Racelighting Black, Indigenous and People of Color in education: a conceptual framework

“…Scholars have articulated the manifold effects microaggressions have on cognitive processing, physiological regulation and psychological conditions of BIPOC (Garc ıa-Louis et al, 2020; Lester et al, 2017). For instance, Johnson et al (2021) argued microaggressions can lead to victim-blaming, splaining, abandonment and neglect.…”

Toward institutional transformation: warming the chilly climate for women in STEM through macrostructural change

“…At the interpersonal level, earlier research suggests faculty demonstrate bias in favor of men STEM students (Moss-Racusin et al, 2012); men-especially White men-tend to gain advantages from the cultural framing of science as masculine (Miller and Roksa, 2019). Prior research has identified microaggressions and discrimination toward women in STEM (Lester et al, 2017;Ong et al, 2018;Johnson et al, 2019) as well as gendered communication challenges among some faculty, staff, and students (Vitores and Gil-Juárez, 2016). Structurally, scholars have found that women's underrepresentation in STEM faculty roles reduces the availability of gender-matched role models and mentors for undergraduate women (Sonnert et al, 2007), which is in turn associated with less connection and sense of belonging (Gaston Gayles and Ampaw, 2014).…”