“We’re Learning like Everyone Else”: Best Practices from Men Allies

Danielle Vegas Lewis

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Conference: 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Baltimore , Maryland
Publication Date: June 25, 2023
Start Date: June 25, 2023
End Date: June 28, 2023
Conference Session: Equity, Culture & Social Justice in Education Division (EQUITY) Technical Session 1
Tagged Divisions: Equity and Culture & Social Justice in Education Division (EQUITY)
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Page Count: 30
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--42335
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/42335
Download Count: 90

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Paper Authors

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Danielle Vegas Lewis SUNY Fredonia orcid.org/0000-0001-7266-6328

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Danielle Vegas Lewis is a doctoral candidate in the University at Buffalo's Higher Education program. She earned a B.A. in Political Science from SUNY Cortland in 2005 and a M.Ed. in Higher Education and Student Affairs from the University of South Carolina in 2007. She is currently the SUNY PRODiG Fellow at SUNY Fredonia where she teaches sociology and gender courses. She also serves as a Research Associate for Dr. Linda DeAngelo at the University of Pittsburgh. Her research agenda aims to understand and disrupt the ways in which socially constructed identities allow for the reproduction of social inequality, with a focus on understanding the ways institutions of higher education and other social structures challenge or uphold hegemonic environments in which majority populations accumulate power that harms students underrepresented in certain contexts.

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Abstract

This paper examines the motivations, perceptions, and experiences of men faculty who identify as allies for undergraduate women in engineering. As men represent the majority in engineering, efforts to create socially just, equitable cultures for women will not be successful if men are not included. There is limited, extant literature on the insights and experiences of active men allies in engineering. However, research demonstrates that faculty can impact issues that adversely affect women’s interest and persistence, like those experienced in engineering. To address the lack of research on men faculty allies in engineering, this study sought to examine the following research question: How and in what ways do the efforts of men faculty allies towards gender equity manifest in their daily work within their disciplines?

Data presented in this paper were collected as part of a larger qualitative, case study with 31 men STEM faculty, of which 12 were in engineering disciplines. The data were collected through interviews, which sought to capture participants’ motivations for serving as allies, examples of how they serve as such, and the ways in which their ally status affected relationships. Data analysis was conducted using both inductive and deductive coding.

Findings demonstrate that participants in this study possessed a number of shared characteristics, including an awareness of the additional barriers that women must navigate and recognition of the importance of building relationships with undergraduate women, both of which seem to be beneficial in allyship efforts. Further, while allies understood that their role as advocates evolved and developed over time, many participants exhibited an uncertainty around how best to engage others in gender equity work, which strategies to implement, and the potential efficacy of their efforts.

Allies also discussed the enactment of both informal methods and strategies that they institutionalize either in courses, within their departments, or at their institutions. The informal strategies described by allies are typically actions engaged in on a regular basis and occur daily in many of my participants’ lives. Men also shared a variety of more formal approaches to demonstrating allyship, the implementation and systemization of which often require more intention and commitment. Results from this study can be used to inform training and education so that the efforts of men faculty allies can be better leveraged, as they attempt to create more equitable engineering environments for women undergraduate students.

Citation
Format

Lewis, D. V. (2023, June), “We’re Learning like Everyone Else”: Best Practices from Men Allies Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--42335

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - This paper examines the motivations, perceptions, and experiences of men faculty who identify as allies for undergraduate women in engineering. As men represent the majority in engineering, efforts to create socially just, equitable cultures for women will not be successful if men are not included. There is limited, extant literature on the insights and experiences of active men allies in engineering. However, research demonstrates that faculty can impact issues that adversely affect women’s interest and persistence, like those experienced in engineering. To address the lack of research on men faculty allies in engineering, this study sought to examine the following research question: How and in what ways do the efforts of men faculty allies towards gender equity manifest in their daily work within their disciplines?

Data presented in this paper were collected as part of a larger qualitative, case study with 31 men STEM faculty, of which 12 were in engineering disciplines. The data were collected through interviews, which sought to capture participants’ motivations for serving as allies, examples of how they serve as such, and the ways in which their ally status affected relationships. Data analysis was conducted using both inductive and deductive coding.

Findings demonstrate that participants in this study possessed a number of shared characteristics, including an awareness of the additional barriers that women must navigate and recognition of the importance of building relationships with undergraduate women, both of which seem to be beneficial in allyship efforts. Further, while allies understood that their role as advocates evolved and developed over time, many participants exhibited an uncertainty around how best to engage others in gender equity work, which strategies to implement, and the potential efficacy of their efforts.

Allies also discussed the enactment of both informal methods and strategies that they institutionalize either in courses, within their departments, or at their institutions. The informal strategies described by allies are typically actions engaged in on a regular basis and occur daily in many of my participants’ lives. Men also shared a variety of more formal approaches to demonstrating allyship, the implementation and systemization of which often require more intention and commitment. Results from this study can be used to inform training and education so that the efforts of men faculty allies can be better leveraged, as they attempt to create more equitable engineering environments for women undergraduate students.

AU  - Danielle Vegas Lewis
CY  - Baltimore , Maryland
DA  - 2023/06/25
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - “We’re Learning like Everyone Else”: Best Practices from Men Allies
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/42335
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--42335
ER  -