Navigating a Multiplicity of Hostile Climates: Latinas Pursuing Undergraduate Engineering Degrees

• In Event: Roundtable Session 28
  In Roundtable Session: The Next Generation of Scholars: Navigating Hostile Climates

Abstract

The number of women who earn college degrees in science and engineering disciplines remains low with even more dismal rates reported for Hispanic women (NSF, 2009). This qualitative study situates campus climate, STEM climate, and departmental climate in relation to eleven undergraduate Latinas who persisted in their pursuit of an engineering degree at two research universities. Undermining their intellect, challenging their cultural identity, and dismissing their work-related competency were the three themes that emerged from the interview data. The study ultimately found that only a few participants explicitly attested to the “cold”, “competitive”, or “unwelcoming” climate of their respective university. However, the experiences they shared clearly illustrated the hostility found throughout various dimensions of the climates in which they operated.

Authors

• Rosa Maria Banda, Rutgers University - New Brunswick/Piscataway

• Fred Arthur Bonner, Rutgers University - New Brunswick/Piscataway