Characterizing Faculty Discourses on Gender in Engineering Education for Effective Interventions

Oregon State University, Corvallis OR

Investigators

Abstract

Faculty pedagogy and interactions have been shown to play a significant role in students' decisions to leave STEM majors, and female students in particular report experiencing negative classroom interactions. This project addresses that problem by examining what and how faculty members think about gender, and how that shapes their educational practices and developing relevant intervention materials. Forty-five engineering faculty members spanning multiple disciplines and career levels at three different institutions are participating in in-depth qualitative interviews that examine their perspectives, practices, and decision-making vis-à-vis gendered facets of engineering education. The findings from the interviews are being used to create faculty development materials and educational materials for future faculty members. Characterizing what and how faculty think about gender will provide a basis for appropriate and successful interventions for faculty and future faculty because rather than merely picking an intervention haphazardly, interventions should be strategically selected to align with the most salient issues or problems. Materials are being implemented at faculty development centers, workshops at national engineering education conferences, and in a newly created graduate course at Oregon State University. Faculty development materials created enhance intellectual infrastructure locally and nationally by providing the first research-based interventions of this kind. Curricular materials created enhance intellectual infrastructure locally and nationally by educating future engineering faculty on how to create more gender-equitable classrooms.