Epistemic Injustice Toward Women in Engineering
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Authors
Thomas, Kaitlyn Anne
Issue Date
2025
Type
Dissertation
Language
en_US
Keywords
Engineering culture , Epistemic beliefs , Epistemic injustice , Epistemology , Women
Alternative Title
Abstract
Women are underrepresented in engineering in the United States. To investigate this problem, engineering education research (EER) has examined possible hindrances to women pursuing an engineering degree and being retained in the field. One such hindrance is the barrier for women in the domain of knowledge and knowing. The ways engineering culture values, rejects, or interprets certain knowledges may conflict with women’s ways of knowing, which may serve to discourage or prevent women from entering or staying in the field. Epistemology—the theory of knowledge and knowing—and other epistemic theories are gaining popularity in the EER community, and researchers are looking to the epistemic dimensions of engineering education to understand the cultural foundations of engineering that may not align with policies concerning diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice. One such theory researchers are utilizing explores justice focusing on epistemic interactions, aptly named epistemic injustice. This work offers a research design to examine a possible explanation for women’s underrepresentation and oppression in the field: the devaluation of women’s knowledge uncovered by the theory of epistemic injustice. The consequences of women’s devaluation may manifest in epistemic beliefs, informing their personal epistemologies, which I investigate in this dissertation.The purpose of the research study is to tell the stories of undergraduate women engineering students, specifically their experiences of epistemic (in)justice (EIJ) and the resulting impact on their personal epistemologies (PE) in engineering contexts. The following are the research questions used to guide this dissertation:
RQ1. How do women engineering students describe their experiences of epistemic (in)justice, specifically testimonial and hermeneutical types?
RQ2. How do women engineering students interpret the impact of epistemic (in)justice on their own personal epistemologies in the context of or regarding the engineering field?
I employed narrative analysis to explore undergraduate women engineering students’ stories and produce contextually specific epistemic snapshots of engineering for women. I used three semi-structured interviews with each of 10 participants to collect narrative data about their epistemic experiences and PEs. After multiple rounds of narrative smoothing and member checking, I co-constructed with the participants 10 narratives telling stories of five participants’ experiences of EIJ and the evolution of their PEs. From comparing across narratives, I developed a conceptual model that shows the process-based relationship between the epistemic constructs described in the narratives. After mapping the conceptual model on existing models for cultural formation in engineering education, I answered a call to action to produce inclusive environments for women by fostering epistemic justice through fair knowledge-based interactions.
The documentation of what EIJ looks like for women in engineering provides a foundation in EER to understand the role EIJ and epistemology play in women’s underrepresentation and repression. Women’s stories of epistemic injustice in their engineering experiences will highlight possible misalignments between inclusive policies for women and their realities of being part of a minority population in engineering.