Value through the voices: Exploring making and its impact on engineering identity formation of underrepresented groups

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Identities in the Making: Exploring Making and its Impact on Identity Formation of Underrepresented Groups in EngineeringRecently, the creation of university-affiliated makerspaces has begun to gain momentum. Engineering education researchers have developed an understanding of the extent to which experiences in engineering impact student identity formation. However, little is known about how engaging in makerspaces impacts the identity formation of undergraduate engineering students, specifically, women and those from underrepresented groups (URGs) (e.g., Hispanics, African Americans, Native Americans, Pacific Islanders, Native Hawaiians, persons with disabilities, veterans, LGBT). URGs have historically been isolated from the profession of engineering and despite decades of commitment to such reform, remain underrepresented in engineering. The institution of engineering has been resistant to change, but the latest developments of university-affiliated makerspaces present an opportunity to innovatively address such change. Makerspace cultures could perpetuate the normative cultures that have persisted in engineering environments. By looking at makerspaces while in their infancy, we can potentially influence the shaping of future makerspace infrastructure and aspects that contribute to the perpetuation of an exclusionary culture. This study seeks to uncover whether investments in makerspaces are supporting the development of another institution of privilege, exclusion, and inequity. This study seeks to understand how engaging in makerspaces impacts identity formation by exploring the identity construction of engineering students, specifically those from URGs, as they engage in university-affiliated makerspaces. This substantial, nationwide study is novel in that it targets university-affiliated makerspaces across the country varying in institution type, region, and size, where more than half are anchored at Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) and one is affiliated with a Community College System. This project uses the narrative identity theoretical framework, a robust and transformative way to consider the identity formation of engineering students, where the meaning assigned to experiences becomes a critical part of participants' stories. The narrative research approach enables the researchers to give a voice to students from URGs' voices that typically get lost in translation due to small numbers. This study will give voices to these participants through disaggregation of gender and race/ethnicity and by addressing intersectionality. The primary data from this study are in-depth, biographical interviews where participants are encouraged to share rich accounts of their experiences becoming a maker and becoming an engineering student. Through their stories, the research team is developing an understanding of how students form their sense of self and their identity as they experience an engineering undergraduate program and engage in makerspaces. During analysis, constructed narratives are arranged temporally and then thematically analyzed to uncover emergent themes across narratives to understand the identity development of engineering students who are also makers. Specifically, the research team is seeking to understand (i) the personal growth and identity development stories of engineering students engaging in and experiencing makerspaces, (ii) whether gender and/or race/ethnicity differences exist across such stories and the lived experiences that have led students to develop their identities as engineers, (iii) what such stories reveal about the culture of makerspaces, and (iv) how supports and barriers elucidated through students' stories can inform stakeholder efforts to increase makerspace engagement, particularly for students from URGs. By questioning the impact of cultures in making, this project could potentially impact engineering programs across the country. Enhancing opportunities for engineering students from URGs to develop full identities is one way to potentially impact their persistence and success as engineers. Through this study, insight into making as a pathway for URGs to engineering, a critical implication when considering the country's demographic shifts and near future workforce needs, can be gained. This work may also lend insight into K-12 as well as community makerspaces.