About
This project will provide a handbook of materials for faculty in engineering to help them understand language practices (what language is and how it is used) in engineering education at a Hispanic Serving Institution. The handbook will offer recommended teaching practices that help students become more aware of how language is inaccessible to Latinx students. In addition, the handbook will be available to faculty in a digital format.
This ethnographic project uses raciolinguistics as its theoretical framework. It will (a) investigate how and in what ways a racialized discourse in engineering creates barriers for minoritized populations to pursue engineering degrees; (b) provide engineering faculty and students with tools to recognize, value, and activate language that challenges dominant racialized discourses in engineering through critical sociolinguistic awareness; (c) and identify and reflect on pedagogical practices that challenge racialized discourse and linguistic practices throughout their work. This project will provide a more nuanced understanding of the role language and linguistic practices play in perpetuating inequity and lack of access to engineering spaces.
Mission
The project will engage four cohorts of 10 Latinx undergraduate students as researchers who will co-design, collect, analyze, and disseminate data for the project. The project will include document analysis of institutional artifacts, interviews with faculty, staff, and administrators, awareness workshops and seminars, questionnaires, and reflective journals. Findings will be disseminated through a digital handbook, social media campaign, seminars, workshops, and conference presentations. The findings from this project will appeal to the broader engineering education field, Hispanic Serving Institutions, Predominantly White Institutions, and Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
This project aims to create a digital handbook for engineering faculty at Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) to enhance their understanding of language practices and their impact on Latinx student success in STEM.
The project utilizes an autoethnographic approach (through testimonios and pláticas) with raciolinguistics as its core framework.
This approach will involve:
- Investigating how language can create barriers for Latinx students within the engineering field.
Equipping faculty and students with tools to identify and challenge dominant racialized language practices. - Identifying pedagogical approaches that promote inclusivity and address existing inequities.
- Engaging four cohorts of 10 Latinx undergraduate students as co-researchers.
- Analyzing institutional documents, conducting interviews with faculty and staff, and facilitating workshops and seminars.
- Utilizing questionnaires and reflective journals to gather data.
- Developing and disseminating a digital handbook for engineering faculty.
- Implementing a social media campaign to raise awareness.
- Organizing seminars, workshops, and conference presentations to share findings.
This NSF-funded project aligns with the Racial Equity in STEM Education activity, striving to improve access and success for underrepresented groups in STEM fields. The project promotes inclusivity within engineering education by addressing the role of language in perpetuating inequities.
Total Funding
$3,641,116.00
RESPETO Principal Investigators
Associate Professor
Principal Investigator of Project RESPETO
AET 1.310
Martha Sidury Christiansen, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics/TESOL
Co-Principal Investigator of Project RESPETO
