Article2015

Sustaining the Pipeline: Experiences of International Female Engineers in U.S. Graduate Programs

42 citations0/0 files storedJournal of Engineering Education

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Career Development and Diversity Engineering Education and Curriculum Development International Student and Expatriate Challenges

Abstract

Abstract Background Research regarding international female engineering graduate students tends to be aggregated with that about the experiences of international students in the United States or as the struggles of female engineers in engineering disciplines. Therefore, this study was conducted to understand the unique experiences of international female students in U.S. engineering graduate programs. Purpose/Hypothesis This study examined the theoretical intersections of sustainability and liminality in the experiences of international female graduate students in U.S. engineering programs. The study explored the tensions and challenges faced by international female engineering students in navigating engineering graduate programs. Design/Method Using qualitative detailed interviews and focus groups conducted with 49 participants, I explored the ways international female engineering students understood the tensions they experienced and developed strategies of persistence in responding to their liminal status within the engineering graduate programs. Results Three themes on the practices of sustainability in navigating liminality emerged from the data: constructing inclusion, challenging invisibility, and reengineering professional efficacy. The themes reflect the everyday strategies of survival the students participate in amid the challenging environment of the academic organizations. Conclusions International female engineers in U.S. graduate engineering programs exist in liminal spaces where their identities are continually being challenged. Through reconstructing inclusion, challenging their invisibility, and reengineering professional efficacy, they transform these liminal spaces to their advantage and persist in their struggles with the challenges they experience.

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References

2006Using thematic analysis in psychology 1985Naturalistic inquiry 2009Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches 1998Transforming Qualitative Information: Thematic Analysis and Code Development 1979The Social Psychology of Organizations.1996Qualitative Research Design: An Interactive Approach 2000Determining Validity in Qualitative Inquiry 2017The Discovery of Grounded Theory

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