GradSWE Blog – Tips for Men on how to be Allies to Women in Engineering

This is a blog post myself and Rachel Tenney wrote for the Graduate Society of Women in Engineering blog. Check out the original post here.

Engineering is a male dominated field. There’s really no dispute about that. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, just 15.9% of employed engineering and architectural professionals are women. SWE and GradSWE are open to people of all genders – this includes men. Men, being in the majority, can play arguably an extremely important role in making engineering a discipline which is inclusive, welcoming, and celebrating of women and other underrepresented genders. Today, nearly 50% of women in engineering will experience sexual harassment by male peers – it will take male allies to bring this number to 0%.

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Book Review – Unapologetic by Charlene A. Carruthers

Unapologetic: A Black, Queer, and Feminist Mandate for Radical Movements by Charlene A. Carruthers. Beacon Press, 2018, 192pp. $22.95 hardcover.

Organizing for justice is a constant inter-generational effort, and organizers are constantly searching for new insights, ideas, and inspiration to meet each generation’s unique social landscape. Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100) is a member-based organization of Black activists and organizers age 18 to 35 which engages in political advocacy, organizing, education, leadership development, and direct action. They operate – specifically through what they describe as “a Black queer feminist lens” (BQF). What can we learn from this organization and its leadership? This is a central function of Unapologetic – values and lessons-learned from a seasoned organizer of BYP100. Charlene Carruthers brings forth deeply insightful stories and defines the BQL for readers, embarking on a journey through Black youth organizing history and how it informs her personal approach to activist organizational structure.

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GradSWE Blog – Towards a Gender Expansive Engineering – Part Two, Ideas and New Practices for Inclusion

The following is a blog post for the Graduate Society of Women Engineers (GradSWE) written by myself and Rachel Tenney. You can see it on their blog, alongside other amazing content, at this link.

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GradSWE Blog – Towards a Gender Expansive Engineering – Part One, What’s the Gender Binary?

The following is a blog post for the Graduate Society of Women Engineers (GradSWE) written by myself and Rachel Tenney. You can see it on their blog, alongside other amazing content, at this link.

Continue reading “GradSWE Blog – Towards a Gender Expansive Engineering – Part One, What’s the Gender Binary?”

Return of the Elwha

The following is a draft of a paper I am working on. At the moment it is stalled, on the back burner. I am interested in any thoughts, comments, critiques, or paths forward that this line of queer studies engagement in engineering ethics can achieve! Even if this never gets reworked or published, I wish to share this paper I wrote as part of my PHD exams. This is an example of the sort of scholarship I hope to engage in over my career on the side of traditional engineering education research. Engineering ethics is important and is a topic I hope to teach, write about, and research further.

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The trouble of reinforcing gender difference for women in engineering

Raising up role models without addressing misogynist gender-in-engineering culture leaves the root causes of gender discrimination unchecked and off of the hook. Phipps believes that recruitment and role models alone will not challenge gender stereotypes and may actually increase the perceptions of gender based difference.

What is wrong with the mantra and identity of “women engineers” as opposed to “engineers”? Is there trouble in saying boldly and loudly – our gender matters? Yes, and no. It’s complicated. We should talk about it and look at the research!

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