Figure 1
An Ecological Systems Theory framing of Black male engagement in engineering academic makerspaces.
Table 1
Participant details.
| PSEUDONYM | YEAR IN ENGINEERING | MAJOR | INSTITUTIONAL TYPE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barett | 4 | Mechanical Engineering | AANPI |
| Blake | 3 | Electrical Engineering | TWI |
| Byron | 3 | Computer Science | HBCU |
Table 2
Codes and their excerpts.
| CODES | QUOTES |
|---|---|
| Experiences that shape identity | I guess here I can say … a good example when I worked here over the summer would be when I started using the PCB mill I guess because you were able to see this is what’s on the inner side of things in electrical devices and things like that, which is making the actual circuit board that was in here, so that was cool; when I made my first circuit board. |
| Roads of trials in Engineering | Maybe not so much in the maker spaces. As a student probably so, people are just hesitant to … I don’t know if ‘cause I’m older or it’s because I’m Black. But I think even with my first degree, there was … you know I was a little bit, it was a little bit harder to take me in as a … as one of their friends. And I don’t know … yeah I can just say that yeah, across the board, throughout my long life in school … I would have to be, if say I were integrated I could probably … if I didn’t express myself, if I didn’t take initiative to talk to somebody I’d probably not know very many people in my program. I could see that happening. And I think that one or two semesters, that’s happened before. Definitely. And I don’t know if that’s just because, you know my ethnicity, or it’s because of my personality. But, I feel like it has something to do with my ethnicity. That’s just the, I can’t really place it, but I think it’s there. |
| Stories of bias, prejudice, and stereotype | I guess you could say how strong-minded and driven I am. It’s not what people typically expect or when they see or hear what I’ve done it’s not typically what is to be expected. Even in high school. I guess … yeah. Even in high school, people didn’t necessarily expect that I was a smart kid or things like that, or they’re like, “Oh, he was the valedictorian?” Things like that. Or even when people figure it out here, they’re typically surprised…Well, I guess also, it’s kind of different here because they’re like, “Oh, he’s a black man that goes to ECU. He’s probably smart.” It’s kind of twofold. You kind of get both sides of it. It’s like, “Oh, well, if you go to ECU, you’re probably smart.” But then it’s like, “Oh, wow, he’s black and he goes to ECU? Yeah, he’s gotta be smart.” |
| Value of making | This 3D print is finishing, can I stay here so I can go ahead and put this together? It was just exciting. After last summer, we’ve had the most people come back. Now, different projects we did was drone building and RC car racing where students built their own cars and built their own drones. The thing with the cars were they had first person view goggles so they would sit in the front of the room where we were presenting. Put the goggles on and they set up an obstacle course where they raced around the room without ever seeing, so … |