Table 1
Black Women in the Engineering Professoriate by Academic Rank.
| FACULTY RANK | NUMBER OF BLACK WOMEN | PERCENTAGE OF ALL PROFESSORS AT THAT RANK |
|---|---|---|
| Full Professor | 51 | 0.44% |
| Associate Professor | 97 | 1.19% |
| Assistant Professor | 150 | 2.13% |
| Total Professoriate | 298 | Barely 1.1% (of over 26,800 total faculty) |
[i] Note. Data drawn from American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE, 2023).
Table 2
Adapted CRF Tenets.
| ADAPTATION OF CRITICAL RACE FEMINISM (CRF) TENETS FOR THE PRESENT STUDY CRF TENET | ORIGINAL SOURCE INTERPRETATION (EVANS-WINTERS & ESPOSITO, 2010) | APPLICATION IN THIS STUDY |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Critical race feminism as a theoretical lens and movement purports that women of color’s experiences, thus perspectives, are different from the experiences of men of color and those of White women. | Black women’s experiences cannot be understood through race or gender alone but require a race-gender analysis. | This study uses CRF to examine how Black men perceive the unique marginalization of Black women in E&C, specifically how race-gender intersections inform these perceptions, and how solidarity may emerge from linked experiences. |
| 2. CRF focuses on the lives of Black women who face multiple forms of discrimination due to intersections of race, class, and gender within White male patriarchy. | CRF critiques structural power and centers Black women’s unique systemic subordination. | Although the participants are Black men, CRF allows us to center Black women’s experiences and analyze how Black men describe and interpret them. The study assesses how perceptions are informed by awareness of intersecting oppressions in racially and gender-exclusionary STEM settings. |
| 3. CRF asserts the multiple identities and consciousness of Black women. | Black women’s identities are multi-dimensional and often involve navigating multiple consciousnesses. | This study examines how Black men’s understanding of Black women’s roles as scholars, caregivers, peers, is influenced by the men’s own racialized experiences and observations of identity-based marginalization in STEM. |
| 4. CRF is multidisciplinary in scope and breadth. | CRF draws from education, sociology, Black feminism, law, and CRT to challenge intersecting oppressions. | This study integrates CRF with the sociology of perception to analyze how Black men’s disciplinary context, lived experiences, and STEM culture shape their views. The project spans education, STEM studies, and social psychology. |
| 5. CRF calls for theories and practices that simultaneously study and combat gender and racial oppression. | CRF aims to be praxis-oriented, dismantling systems that marginalize Black women. | This study aims to foster Black gender solidarity and challenge dominant narratives in STEM by using Black men’s insights as a site of critical reflection and a step toward structural transformation. |
| WRITING PSEUDONYM | INSTITUTION PSEUDONYM | PHD YEAR | MAJOR/FIELD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Akoni | Southern Technical University 1 | 5 | Chemical Engineering |
| Alex | Southern Technical University 1 | 6 | Biomedical Engineering |
| Armel | Southern State University 1 | 4 | Material Science and Engineering |
| Cedric | Midwestern Private University 2 | 2 | Technology and Social Behavior |
| Chike | Southern State University 1 | 5 | Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering |
| Craig | Southern State University 1 | 5 | Material Science |
| Dace | Southern Technical University 1 | 1 | Material Science |
| Derek | Eastern State University 1 | 6 | Aerospace Engineering |
| Evan | Midwestern Private University 2 | 1 | Computer Science |
| Frederick | Midwestern Private University 2 | 4 | Mechanical Engineering |
| Harold | Southern Private University 1 | 4 | Chemical Engineering |
| Hector | Eastern State University 1 | 8 | Computer Science |
| Jacob | Southern Technical University 1 | 2 | Industrial and Systems Engineering |
| JaMil | Southern State University 1 | 4 | Civil Engineering |
| Jimmy | Eastern State University 1 | 6 | Aerospace Engineering |
| Miguel | Southern Technical University 1 | 5 | Electrical and Computer Engineering |
| Neil | Southern Technical University 1 | 7 | Environmental Engineering |
| Nicolás | Southern State University 1 | 4 | Material Science |
| Phillip | Eastern State University 1 | 4 | Human Science Computing |
| Quan | Southern State University 4 | 3 | Computer Engineering |
| Rameen | Northern Private University 2 | 1 | Computer Science |
| Raymond | Southern State University 1 | 4 | Computer Science |
| Richard | Southern State University 1 | 4 | Engineering |
| Saleem | Southern State University 4 | 7 | Computer Science |
| Samir | Southern State University 4 | 5 | Electrical and Computer Engineering |
| Tatum | Midwestern Private University 2 | 3 | Material Science |
| Todd | Eastern State University 1 | 3 | Mechanical Engineering |
| Vernon | Eastern State University 1 | 1 | Human-Centered Computing |