Comprehending Multiple Identities as Minoritized Students in Engineering: How Can Developmental Networks Grow Meaning-Making Capacity?

• In Event: Mentoring in STEM

Abstract

There remains considerable gaps in understanding how minoritized students can be supported to develop a sense of self as engineers. The extent to which minoritized students can make sense of how their different social identities align with their growing sense of self as engineers is contingent on their meaning-making capacity. There is a dearth of understanding about the role that developers from diverse backgrounds can play in supporting the growth of their meaning-making capacity. Our objective is to address this gap through presenting cases of minoritized engineering students’ experiences with lack of belonging and the role of their diverse developers in supporting them to make sense of how their identities position them to experience belonging in engineering.

Authors

• Rajashi Ghosh, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Alene Montgomery, Drexel University