This project addresses three major project interests of National Science Foundation's Broadening Participation of Engineering program: (a) analyzing and understanding the problem of poorly sustained participation in engineering across underrepresented demographic groups; (b) identifying structural inequalities and biases within educational and workforce systems that may influence engineering persistence; and (c) examining insufficient access to support systems and social networks that raise career awareness about different engineering pathways among underrepresented groups. More importantly, the project has the ability to provide the foundational data to evaluate the cumulative effects of women of color's double bind experience of race and gender in engineering and provide meaningful evidence of how disadvantage accrues over time. Further, the new knowledge generated from this project possess great potential in providing directions to engineering faculty and practitioners on how best to promote diversity and inclusion in engineering, where both diversity and inclusion remain a persistent challenge.
Using intersectionality as the guiding theoretical framework, the project focuses on improving the engineering interests and experiences of women of color for the purpose of broadening participation. A predominantly qualitative research methodology is being used to pinpoint the obstacles that women of color have to overcome in engineering. The investigators are using the data to develop a framework and model that women of color can use to overcome challenges that they might face in engineering and other STEM disciplines.
