Engineering at the Intersection: Black Women's Experiences in Engineering Doctoral Programs

• In Event: Race and Gender Examinations in Higher Education

Abstract

The current study focuses on the intersectional nature of the oppression experienced, and the resistance enacted, by Black female engineering PhD students and post-doctoral scholars. Approximately 25 women were interviewed at eight institutions. Using the theoretical framework of Black feminism, interview data was analyzed to uncover themes relating to their raced and gendered experiences. Results reveal the myriad of ways in which these female scholars encountered oppression within their programs, but they also suggest that these women defied dominant ideologies in order to assert a confidence in their own abilities.

Authors

• Lydia Bentley, Vanderbilt University

• Ebony Omotola McGee, Vanderbilt Peabody College

• William H. Robinson, Vanderbilt University

• Stacey Houston, Vanderbilt University

• Portia Kwartema Botchway, Vanderbilt University - Peabody College

• Ruchi Roy, Vanderbilt University - Peabody College