Paper 2: Pláticas as Pedagogies of Resistance: Cultivating Critical Consciousness in Engineering Students at a Hispanic Serving Institution

• In Event: Reimagining Researcher-Participant Relations in Engineering and Computing Education

Abstract

Purpose
Historically, engineering discourse has been shaped by deficit-based views that favor white, male engineers (Slaton, 2010; Stitt & Happel-Parkins, 2019). Such narratives frequently portray individuals from marginalized backgrounds as lacking ability, competence, or suitability for engineering. In response to this persistent framing, this study explored how culturally grounded pedagogical practices rooted in Chicana/o/x epistemologies (Delgado Bernal, 1998) can disrupt these narratives and foster the development of critical consciousness among engineering students at a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI). This work shifts the focus from deficit to asset-based understandings, highlighting the potential for transformative learning environments that validate students’ cultural and lived experiences.
Theoretical Framework
This work was guided by Chicana Feminist Epistemologies (Delgado Bernal, 1998) and Paulo Freire’s (Freire, 1997) concept of conscientização, this research positions pláticas (Fierros & Bernal, 2016; Guajardo & Guajardo, 2013) as both a knowledge-making and resistance practice. Chicana Feminist Epistemology foregrounds lived experience, collective dialogue, and storytelling as valid and essential sources of insight, particularly for historically marginalized communities. Freire’s framework supports the development of critical awareness through reflection on one’s sociopolitical context, a process that pláticas help facilitate.
Data Sources and Methods
As part of a larger, multi-year ethnographic study, this paper describes how 11 undergraduate engineering students at an HSI participated in a series of pláticas over a period of 4 years centered on critical discussions about the sociopolitical history of engineering and its impact on their own engineering pathways. Pláticas were used as both method and pedagogical practice to center students’ lived experiences, create spaces for relational dialogue, capture instances of resistance, and facilitate critical reflection (Fierros & Bernal, 2016; Saavedra & Esquierdo, 2020). These data were then transcribed and coded in three iterations (inductive coding, axial coding, and re-coding) (Saldaña, 2015) to create themes related to critical consciousness and resistance.
Results
Findings reveal that while students enter engineering programs with some awareness of inequities, such as unequal school funding and lack of opportunities, their understanding is often shaped by meritocratic ideologies that are evident in engineering discourse (Cech, 2013; Slaton, 2015). Through pláticas, participants begin to identify broader structural and historical forces, such as systemic racism, colonialism, and class stratification, that shape who becomes an engineer and how engineering knowledge is valued. As participants made sense of their own trajectories in relation to these systemic forces, moments of resistance began to emerge, including questioning dominant narratives about merit, challenging deficit-based assumptions about their communities, and reimagining what it means to be an engineer on their own terms.
Significance
This study highlights pláticas as pedagogies of resistance that challenge dominant, depoliticized norms in engineering education. By centering culturally rooted, dialogic methods, this work affirms the importance of integrating Chicana/o/x epistemologies into engineering education, particularly at HSIs, where many students navigate multiple layers of marginalization. The findings demonstrate that pláticas not only support the development of critical consciousness but also help cultivate more expansive, justice-oriented engineering identities.

Author

• Joel Alejandro Mejia, University of Cincinnati