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Dissertation
The Intersectionality of Black Women Engineering Students Attending a Predominantly White Institution
University of West Florida Libraries
Doctor of Education (EDD), University of West Florida
2022
Abstract
Historically marginalized social identities of race and gender, coupled with established power structures, have contributed to the underrepresentation of Black women engineering students in a White male-dominated discipline. The National Science Foundation (NSF, 2019) reported that Black women represent a disproportionately lower number of graduates, holding steady from 2008 to 2018 at 1% of engineering bachelor’s degree recipients. The purpose of this qualitative interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) study using intersectionality as a theoretical framework was to explore the intersectional experiences of Black women engineering students attending a predominantly White institution (PWI) in the Southeastern United States. Intersectionality theory comprises three constructs (structural, representational, political) that describe the impact of established institutions of power at the convergence of marginalized overlapping social identities. The selection of four undergraduate Black women in engineering majors and the identification of a PWI as the study site supported homogeneous purposeful sampling. Findings from the study revealed that students experienced visibility (being seen and heard) by peers when acknowledged for intellectual contributions; racially gendered hypervisibility (unwanted attention) as determinants of academic and social inclusion; and instances of insufficient educational, racial or cultural support to combat negative racially gendered stereotypes that reinforce invisibility. This study can inform higher education leaders on strategies to broaden the participation of Black women in the engineering discipline. Future research should explore the effectiveness of policy and structural changes implemented to foster the inclusion of Black women engineering students attending a PWI.
Details
- Title
- The Intersectionality of Black Women Engineering Students Attending a Predominantly White Institution
- Resource Type
- Dissertation
- Contributors
- Mohamed Khabou (Committee Chair)Karen S. Molek (Committee Member)Mark Malisa (Committee Member)
- Publisher
- University of West Florida Libraries
- Format
- pdf
- Number of pages
- 303
- Copyright
- Unpublished work © Patrice Robinson Moorer
- Identifiers
- 99380151596006600
- Academic Unit
- School of Education
- Language
- English
- Awarding Institution
- Education; University of West Florida; Doctor of Education (EDD)
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Education (EDD), University of West Florida