Understanding intersecting social identities in engineering education and practice

Studies on the persistence and success of underrepresented groups in STEM point to a number of challenges, ranging from college-preparedness to lack of role models and financial disparity. However, few studies, if any, systematically investigate the role students' individual identities (i.e. intersections of race, ethnicity, gender, culture, ability, sexual identity, language, etc.) play in helping or hindering their success in engineering and computer science. Relational and structural power often accrues to those who most closely approximate the defined norm, and those who do not align with these models may be compelled to withhold or even deny integral parts of their social and cultural identities as a means of successfully navigating engineering culture. We refer to this as “identity severance” and think it is negatively correlated with persistence in engineering education and practice. We have developed an exploratory study to be implemented at three distinct institutions of post-secondary education to identify the fundamental themes that would inform a more comprehensive and widespread national conversation regarding the influence of power and privilege on broader participation and practice in engineering and computer science.