Black Men Committed to Making Engineering More Humane: A Collaborative Autoethnography of Two Engineering Education Scholars

Abstract

Despite an abundance of scholarship on Black men in engineering, including both meta-narratives of underperformance and counter-narratives of success, there is scant literature written by Black men in engineering giving insight into their own experiences. Even less scholarship exists about Black men who have earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in engineering and are now working to shift the engineering education landscape. The purpose of this paper is to critically engage the narrative surrounding broadening participation in engineering by closely examining the experiences of two Black male engineering education faculty aiming to make engineering more humane. Drawing on the two authors’ experiences in engineering education, we use methods from collaborative autoethnography and Du Bois’ notion of double consciousness to analyze our interpersonal experiences of being both Black men and engineering education researchers within engineering education's larger systems of power, oppression, and social privilege. In comparing and contrasting our narratives, we were able to generate a better understanding of our complicated commitment to engineering education. In sharing our narratives, we intend to present a dialogic engagement that offers new insights into the sociocultural context of engineering education.