"Feeling Like a Square Peg in a Round Hole": Dissonance in STEM Professionals' Identity

• In Event: Career and Technical Education Roundtable 1

Abstract

Workplace environments and demands may lead to professionals working in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields to question their professional identity within STEM, a feeling of uncertainty that may lead to negative outcomes (e.g., diminished job performance). This study aimed to gain a deeper understanding of identity conflict by exploring potential sources of dissonance shaping adults’, many mid-career professionals, and identity in STEM. The researchers used semi-structured interviews to obtain data from 20 STEM professionals. One external factor commonly described by participants is that they were situated within and across multiple worlds, but did not feel as if they belonged in any one world. This was at odds with how participants described their STEM identity outside their professional selves.

Authors

• Zhengqi Hu, Binghamton University - SUNY

• Amber Simpson, Binghamton University - SUNY