Learning From Women of Color Who Are Thriving in Engineering: An Asset-Based Approach

The purpose of this work is to explore the experiences of women of color (WOC) who are thriving as they navigate engineering. To address our purpose, we use two theoretical perspectives (i.e., student navigation and engineering thriving) to analyze interview data from five undergraduate engineering students at one institution. Using deductive coding and thematic analysis, we found certain environmental features to be more salient for WOC in their development of thriving competencies. Student support centers, peer support, campus organizations, and internships provided WOC with support and/or opportunities to thrive in undergraduate engineering. Our findings highlight that ensuring accessibility of support and opportunities can promote the thriving of undergraduate WOC in engineering.