Work in Progress: An Autoethnographic Account of a Female Engineering Intern

This paper is a work in progress (WIP) that explores the experiences of a female undergraduate engineer, Kayla, in both professional and academic settings. Studies have found that women who persist in engineering describe themselves as having engineering identity (Buse et al., 2013). According to Faulkner (2009a), however, the normative engineering culture tends to make working relationships easier for men than women, and women are "visible as women, yet invisible as engineers" (p. 169). This study focuses on the non-normative setting and culture of Kayla's internship. The work presented in this paper primarily examined her internship experiences with a company that "took pride in hiring female engineering graduates" and was "very accepting of women in engineering." Two frameworks were used to explore Kayla's workplace experiences: Faulkner's (2009b) concept of in/authenticity and Godwin & Lee's (2017) engineering identity framework. To understand Kayla's workplace experiences, our methodology followed the autoethnographic steps outlined by Chang (2008). Kayla experienced authenticity from the strong female presence within her internship, despite the fact the internship was conducted remotely due to COVID-19. During her internship, Kayla only had female supervisors. Her engineering identity was bolstered due to the presence of women; she felt more authentic as an engineer, and in turn, experienced less imposter syndrome compared to when she was surrounded by men in her undergraduate activities. The presence of so many other women made her feel "visible as an engineer and not a woman." Even though Kayla could not meet these women in person, her engineering identity was positively impacted from having a female supervisor guiding her and hearing a woman host the weekly firm meetings. This has work demonstrated how having a strong female presence to guide an aspiring woman in engineering encouraged her to continue on this path and recognize her engineering identity. References: Buse, K., Bilimoria, D., & Perelli, S. (2013). Why they stay: Women persisting in US engineering careers. Career Development International, 18(2), 139–154. https://doi.org/10.1108/CDI-11-2012-0108 Chang, H. (2008). Autoethnography as Method. Left Coast Press. Godwin, A., & Lee, W. (2017). A Cross-sectional Study of Engineering Identity During Undergraduate Education. 2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition Proceedings. 2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Columbus, Ohio. https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--27460 Faulkner, W. (2009). Doing gender in engineering workplace cultures. II. Gender in/authenticity and the in/visibility paradox. Engineering Studies, 1(3), 169–189. https://doi.org/10.1080/19378620903225059 Faulkner, W. (2009b). Doing gender in engineering workplace cultures. II. Gender in/authenticity and the in/visibility paradox. Engineering Studies, 1(3), 169-189.