Creating Virtual Counter-Spaces for Minoritized Communities

• In Event: Contributions of Technology to Improved and More Equitable Teaching

Abstract

This paper explores how a virtual race-conscious and gender-conscious professional development program for Black doctoral and postdoctoral engineering and computing scholars interested in academic careers served as counterspace within this predominantly White, male field. The program paired one Black engineering faculty member with one Black social science (e.g., sociology, mathematics education, psychology) faculty member who coached 4-5 participants. We performed a thematic analysis of qualitative data to explore how the coaching program created a counterspace for Black engineering students and to identify the key elements that made said counterspace successful: transparency, trust, and affirmation.

Authors

• Ann Varnedoe, Vanderbilt University

• Dara Naphan-Kingery, Western New Mexico University

• William H. Robinson, Vanderbilt University

• Ebony O. McGee, Vanderbilt University