Studying Latinas' Experiences in Engineering Classrooms: Toward a Conceptual Framework (Poster 7)

• In Event: Constructing Educational Possibilities for Latin* Engineering Students: Call to Action for the Institutions and Systems That Serve Them

Abstract

Objectives or Purposes
Few frameworks for studying marginalized students’ persistence in engineering focus on students’ perceptions of the instructional experience in engineering courses. Classroom climate and racialized and gendered interactions with peers and instructors may be particularly influential for Latinas. This work builds on the literature on women and people of color in engineering and other STEM fields, as well as a mixed methods study of women’s experiences in two engineering classrooms, to propose a framework for examining the persistence of Latinas in engineering classrooms.

Perspective(s) or Theoretical Framework
Feminism and the recognition of the sexist and racist power structures that exist in engineering influenced the development of the conceptual framework. Feminist standpoint theory, Black feminist standpoint theory, and feminist critiques of pedagogy are used to expose the mechanisms of dominance that operate in an environment such as an engineering classroom, creating power structures through dynamics between instructors, peers, and women.

Modes of Inquiry
Conceptual frameworks in engineering and STEM fields that focus on students’ career interest, self-efficacy, and science/engineering identity were examined to understand the potential gaps in understanding the impact of instruction on women in engineering courses. Each of the frameworks reviewed provided evidence of the challenges marginalized students encounter in STEM programs. The framework we propose centers analytical attention on how instructional experiences in engineering courses contribute to women’s socioemotional outcomes and therefore to their persistence.

Data Sources, Evidence, Objects, or Materials
Both quantitative and qualitative findings from Beverly’s (2022) study support several assumptions of this conceptual framework and provide additional insights into women’s experiences and socioemotional outcomes.

Results
Findings indicate that inclusive teaching practices—such as providing positive reinforcement, showing care, and by having positive personal interactions with students —contribute to women’s perceptions of a positive classroom climate. Based on qualitative evidence, a positive classroom climate coupled with comfort with the instructor, contributed to women’s desire to participate and engage in class.

Qualitative findings also suggest that group interactions into which women can self-select and positive connections made in the classroom contributed to women’s sense of belonging in the classroom. As a result of the pedagogical strategies in which the instructors engaged, women developed self-efficacy, a desire to take other engineering courses, and a belief that they could continue in an engineering career.

Scientific or Scholarly Significance
As a result of hostile engineering environments, marginalized students are stripped away from their identities while engineering culture champions a colorblind approach. This colorblind approach can ignore the needs of marginalized students, especially those who enter spaces with intersecting -isms, such as Latinas. The conceptual framework discussed provides a guide for researchers who want to further understand course dynamics and corresponding effects on Latinas. Both instructors and peers appear to have negative effects on women in courses, affecting their sense of belonging, engineering self-efficacy, and desire to remain in the field, which provides a potential template for exploring these effects on Latinas.

Authors

• Selyna Perez Beverly, Eastern Michigan University

• Lisa R. Lattuca, University of Michigan