Need

Substantial resources have been invested into makerspaces in K-12 schools, higher education, and the community with the underlying assumption that ignited interest and engagement in STEM and engineering will be the outcomes of such experiences. However, very little has been done to develop an understanding of how engaging in makerspaces impacts students' engineering identity development and how makerspaces promote or hinder inclusivity, diversity, equity, and justice.

Approach

To address this need, we visited makerspaces at eight universities (regionally distributed and inclusive of minority serving institutions), conducted observations of each makerspace, conducted interviews with 65 engineering students and makers, and did analysis of this data to explore questions around engineering identity development in makerspaces and how engineering students from underrepresented groups (URGs) experience makerspaces.

Project Outcomes

Through this research project we found that makerspaces are conducive to developing college students' engineering identities. A promising finding was that makerspaces are spaces of empowerment and agency for many students, especially those from URGs. However, makerspaces are also spaces of marginalization for many students from URGs.  

With such a large qualitative dataset, we were able to analyze smaller subsets of data to develop a more nuanced understanding. Through our analysis of seven Black men, we found that makerspaces promote agency and identity formation. However, for Black men at primarily white institutions, we found that makerspaces reflected the heteronormative culture of engineering in a way that challenged smooth navigation in and through these spaces.

In addition, we analyzed a subset of ten women and found common themes across their stories. These themes include the perception of gender bias, as well as an intimidating, hostile, and non-inclusive environment. In spite of these negative themes, we did find that these women found value in the makerspace through access to resources, opportunities to learn, and increased confidence.

We also uncovered promising practices that promote an inclusive environment in makerspaces through our analysis. Our findings indicate that the physical space, the culture and the staff are integral to creating an inclusive makerspace. By focusing on these aspects of makerspaces (physical space, culture, and staff), we can cultivate a sense of belonging for the students, from the location on campus, to the posters on the wall to the organization of the furniture, so that students can have a sense of belonging in the space and identify themselves and their peers as engineers regardless of their backgrounds. Incorporating the makerspace into the engineering curriculum help students realize that the space is open and welcoming, and could increase students' chances of engaging regularly in the makerspace. Furthermore, if we (including student workers, staff, and faculty working in makerspaces) make explicit attempts to support a risk- taking, fail-forward culture, students will begin to feel as if they can learn in the space and that it is a space in which they do not have to arrive knowing all of the answers.

We also did an analysis of students' suggestions for improvements to the makerspaces. In this analysis, we found that men from URGs and all women tended to recommend social change in makerspaces, while white men tended to recommend equipment and technology changes. While makerspaces can be improved by adding new equipment and providing materials to students who need it, further work is needed to improve the experience of women, and especially intersectional women, in these spaces. This work highlights the differences in experiences that engineering students from differing identities have, as well as the need to homogenize these experiences.

The competing values framework is a construct used to measure cultural practice of organizations and has been used in several applications related to changing corporate culture. We found the competing values framework to be a useful tool to understand the different types of makers and makerspaces, and to help us think intentionally about how to achieve balance in a makerspace at an institution. This framework can be utilized to understand the motivations and values of individual makers, and to characterize elements of the makerspace design. Understanding these perspectives can be at the foundation of how to diagnose and make improvements to the culture of a makerspace. 

Conclusion

This research is the first of its kind, as it involves developing an understanding of how makerspaces at eight institutions impact the identity development of students from URGs. In our project, we found that makerspaces can be empowering for engineering students. However, makerspaces also are a privileged space where students from underrepresented groups do not feel that they have the luxury of making mistakes in the space as they learn to use the tools and equipment. Makerspaces can be spaces for marginalization as was seen at a few of our makerspaces, where some peers and staff questioned whether some students (mostly those from URGs) have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to engage in the makerspace.

Last Modified: 12/18/2020
Modified by: Nadia N Kellam