Alice L. Pawley

‘Different people have different priorities’: work–family balance, gender, and the discourse of choice

This paper contributes new perspectives on the underrepresentation of female faculty in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines by identifying how faculty themselves conceptualize or make sense of the problem. We conducted in-depth interviews with 19 STEM faculty members. The interviews were employed to identify discourses faculty engage in their explanations for underrepresentation. Work–family balance emerged as the leading theme, with participants identifying many challenges thereto. As participants discussed work–family balance, they engaged a discourse of choice to frame the challenges faced by female faculty members in particular. We relate the discourse of choice to the persistence of gender inequalities in STEM departments.

Work in Progress - The affordances of photo elicitation as a research and pedagogical method

This research explores the research method of photo elicitation, where participants take photos that are later used to promote conversation in interviews and focus groups, as both a research and a pedagogical tool in an engineering education context. Different methodological implementations are investigated as research methods, and its potential use as a pedagogical tool to promote active group learning in the classroom is explored. Findings from a preliminary analysis are discussed, in addition to opportunities for future research.

Special session - new engineering stories: How feminist thinking can impact engineering ethics and practice

The goal of this special session is to examine the way we as engineers frame stories about engineers and engineering, and to ask: do we need to embrace new stories? We will explore traditional stories about engineers and engineering ethics and ask, how might these stories, and the kind of engineering practice and education they inspire, change if framed from a feminist perspective? The outcomes of this session are to build a greater community interested in social engagement, engineering ethics, and feminist methodologies as they apply to engineering.

Workshop - feminist engineering education: Building a community of practice

As a result of a series of papers and special sessions held at FIE between 2004 and 2008, a community of CSET educators interested in exploring feminist pedagogies has formed at FIE. Past participants in these sessions have expressed a desire to learn more about what makes a set of pedagogies “feminist.” At the same time, there has been an increase in the number of research papers at FIE that draw on feminist research methods or topics. This workshop is designed to meet the needs of members of the FIE community who have some experience with feminist pedagogies or research methods, and who are looking to develop intellectual relationships with others also working in engineering educational research. We will discuss the history of feminist education and feminist research methods in the US, including a connection to science and engineering education; participants will then work in small groups focusing on a sub-topic (feminist pedagogies, feminist research methods, and feminist research topics/content). We invite participants to bring part of a project (such as a syllabus or course plan, assignment, class or research project, research question or protocol) to this workshop; some time will be dedicated to the guided design/redesign of this project.

Learning and social change: using interviews as tools to prompt reflection on practice

This article argues that interviewing is a process in which interviewees can reflect on critical decisions about their academic careers. Reflective practice is a course of action where a person ponders significant incidents in her or his life. In so doing, she or he can make critical decisions about her or his own well-being. Drawing on our experiences collecting qualitative data for ADVANCE Purdue, an NSF-funded project to increase the number and success of women faculty in STEM academic disciplines, we illustrate how interviews triggered our interviewees to think differently about accessing or interpreting promotion and tenure policies of the university. Hence, we argue that interviews can be considered as a form of reflective practice where interviewees decide to take alternative actions to enhance their well-being. In this paper, we ask: (a) How do interviews trigger new realizations among interviewees?; and (b) How do interviews act as agents of potential social change? Data are derived from semi-structured interviews with faculty members from science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and agriculture disciplines at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana. We interpret the data qualitatively in the context of reflective practice.

Applying philosophical inquiry: Bringing future engineering education researchers into the Philosophy of Engineering Education

An ability to apply philosophical inquiry to both create and critique arguments about the current and future state of engineering education is a critical capability for future engineering educators to develop. However, there are few, if any, examples of how to do this. In this paper we describe a course that we have been offering for four years at Purdue University, History and Philosophy of Engineering Education, as an example of how to address this gap. We describe the learning objectives, conceptual frameworks used, learning and assessment activities, and examples of course assessments that illustrate learning outcomes.

Special session - from active learning to liberative pedagogies: Alternative teaching philosophies in CSET education

Frontiers in Education has a history of special sessions focused on alternative and/or feminist pedagogies, and they have tended to attract a wide range of participants with varying levels of experience with such pedagogies. This special session is designed as an introduction to various alternative teaching philosophies and pedagogies, building on the past interest in such sessions and on the increasing interest in exploring philosophies of education in the context of engineering education. We will introduce participants to various theoretical frameworks of alternative pedagogies through a summary model, and facilitate small group discussions of three cases where alternative pedagogies have been or could be implemented. It is hoped that this introductory session will make such alternative pedagogical ideas more accessible to a larger number of CSET educators, allowing them to better participate in the rich and thriving conversation developing at FIE on using philosophies of engineering and education to envision new models for CSET education.

Special session — What should a course reader on gender and engineering include? An unconference discussion

To build upon the community that has formed at FIE interested in discussing feminist approaches to engineering education, we will hold a special session discussion oriented around proposing a textbook that comprehensively explores the topic of gender and engineering. Through the organization of an “unconference” session discussion will include opportunity to discuss the audience and scope of such a proposed book, as well as explore the advantages and challenges of some of the existing texts on the market. The authors of this special session commit to turning the results of this discussion into a book prospectus to be distributed to appropriate publishers who might be interested in supporting such a book.