EMERGING BUILT ENVIRONMENT WOMEN (EBEW) CENTER
EBEW CENTER RESEARCH STATEMENT
The EBEW Center is actively engaged in research work related to professional identity development processes in women and minorities towards architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) professions
Overview
This lack of gender and racial diversity in the multi-billion dollar architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry is crippling as the preparation of untapped talented women and minorities could reduce its workforce shortages. Broad interventions that improve women’s representation in some STEM professions are not been as effective in AEC professions as they are not robust enough to address educational, professional, and industrial differences. Little is published on how the salient experiences of women contribute to AEC career interests and professional identity development (PID) processes as they navigate pathways to become professionals in the AEC industry.
Consequently, the EBEW Center is focused on understanding PID processes of emerging AEC women professionals towards informing educational and institutional transformations that strengthen women’s persistence in becoming AEC professionals. In pursuit of this goal, the research objective is to construct robust foundational grounded theories (GT) that provide nuanced insights into why and how the multiple identities, lived experiences and major concerns of undergraduate AEC women interact with their PID process. A multi-year, multi-site, and multi-method constructivist approach to grounded theory (GT) research is adopted with primary data obtained from intensive interviews with critical incident and symbolic interactionist emphasis. The comparative and iterative synthesis of coded and emergent data obtained from a cohort of undergraduate AEC women from five institutions over a four-year period will provide a longitudinal understanding of why and how their views and actions change with their lived experiences across educational stages. Methodological triangulation of data include textual analysis of formal documents and open-ended question surveys. The findings will inform the utilization of both formal and informal learning experiences to attract young women and increase their persistence in becoming AEC professionals.
Undergraduate women enrolled in undergraduate architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) programs in five participating institutions (MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTH CAROLINA AGRICULTURAL AND TECHNICAL STATE UNIVERSITY, PITTSBURG STATE UNIVERSITY, UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, LAS VEGAS; and UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN) are being recruited to serve as research participants in this research project. Selected undergraduate AEC women will participate in a ZOOM interview which is approximately one (1) hour long. At the end of the interview, a $100 check will be processed for each research participant. If you are interested, please sign up by completing the short survey at this Qualtrics link: https://ncat.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5gsNt8gdcoegVTg
Selected research participants will be contacted by email. For further clarification, please send an email to Dr. Andrea Ofori-Boadu at andreo@ncat.edu.
Intellectual Merit
The construction of robust PID process theories will bridge gaps in identity and diversity theories and inform transformations for more inclusive AEC educational and institutional environments, which will enhance the persistence of the next generation of women AEC professionals. Theoretical foundations will guide future identity and diversity research and can be extended to other persistent male-dominant STEM disciplines.
Broader Impacts
Improved gender inclusive environments will expand the pool of qualified AEC women and minorities for a more diverse AEC workforce towards more inclusive 21st century-built environments and professional practice.