TY - GEN
T1 - I Don't FIT the Stereotype, but i see Myself as an Engineer
T2 - 48th Frontiers in Education Conference, FIE 2018
AU - Brianna,
AU - Benedict,
AU - Verdin, Dina
AU - Baker, Rachel
AU - Godwin, Allison
AU - Thielmeyer, Aaron
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the National Science Foundation, CAREER grant number 1554057. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
PY - 2019/3/4
Y1 - 2019/3/4
N2 - This research category full paper examines the attitudes and beliefs that first-year engineering students have about the stereotypes of engineers and what it means to fit in engineering. We explored the attitudes and beliefs of 12 first-year engineering students, who may or may not identify with certain aspects of the stereotypical engineer, to understand their initial perceptions of engineering and what it means to fit in engineering. Most of the students' descriptions of an engineer aligned with the widely-accepted stereotype of an engineer, but they were also careful to state that that image was not true of all engineers. Several students expressed how they fit in engineering as a matter of 'sticking it out' because engineering requires hard work, motivation, and commitment, along with other attributes that were not descriptive of a stereotypical engineer. In this paper, we explore the tensions in how students describe the role of 'an engineer' generally and their own identities and fit as engineers.
AB - This research category full paper examines the attitudes and beliefs that first-year engineering students have about the stereotypes of engineers and what it means to fit in engineering. We explored the attitudes and beliefs of 12 first-year engineering students, who may or may not identify with certain aspects of the stereotypical engineer, to understand their initial perceptions of engineering and what it means to fit in engineering. Most of the students' descriptions of an engineer aligned with the widely-accepted stereotype of an engineer, but they were also careful to state that that image was not true of all engineers. Several students expressed how they fit in engineering as a matter of 'sticking it out' because engineering requires hard work, motivation, and commitment, along with other attributes that were not descriptive of a stereotypical engineer. In this paper, we explore the tensions in how students describe the role of 'an engineer' generally and their own identities and fit as engineers.
KW - Agency
KW - Belongingness
KW - Engineering Identity
KW - Fit
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85063432063&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85063432063&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1109/FIE.2018.8659229
DO - 10.1109/FIE.2018.8659229
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85063432063
T3 - Proceedings - Frontiers in Education Conference, FIE
BT - Frontiers in Education
PB - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Y2 - 3 October 2018 through 6 October 2018
ER -