The Soundtrack of Our Lives (SOUL): Understanding the Experiences of Disabled Women¹ in Engineering Programs Through Song Choice (WIP)

This research paper explores the intersectionality of disabled students in engineering education, with a novel focus on using music as a reflective tool during the research process. Drawing from intersectionality frameworks - which emphasize the compounded nature of identities such as race, class, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, nationality, disability status, age, and geographical location - this study investigates the unique ways in which disabled students with multiple marginalized identities navigate through undergraduate engineering. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seventeen disabled undergraduate engineering students over the 2023-2024 school year. At the end of each interview, students were asked to select songs that represented their experiences in engineering as individuals with multiple marginalized identities. The analysis of their chosen songs and the lyrics' relevance to their personal narratives provided a deeper understanding of the intersections of sexism, ableism, and capitalism within their educational experiences. The full paper expands on how music served not only as a method for eliciting rich, qualitative data but also as a reflective tool for both interviewees and researchers.