NotesFAQContact Us
Collection
Advanced
Search Tips
Peer reviewed Peer reviewed
Direct linkDirect link
ERIC Number: EJ1255335
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015-Jul
Pages: 19
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1069-4730
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Sustaining the Pipeline: Experiences of International Female Engineers in U.S. Graduate Programs
Dutta, Debalina
Journal of Engineering Education, v104 n3 p326-344 Jul 2015
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.
Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148. Tel: 800-835-6770; Tel: 781-388-8598; Fax: 781-388-8232; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A