Epistemic Injustice Toward Women in Engineering
type: CreativeWork
description: 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 en…
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 en…
author: Thomas, Kaitlyn Anne
language: en_US
language: English
keywords: Engineering culture, Epistemic beliefs, Epistemic injustice, Epistemology, Women
date published: 2025
date modified: 2026-07-27T21:45:45Z
provider: University of Nevada - Reno
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Nevada - Reno