Date Approved
6-23-2025
Embargo Period
6-23-2027
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D. Engineering Education
Department
Experiential Engineering Education
College
Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering
Advisor
Kaitlin Mallouk, Ph.D.
Committee Member 1
Cheryl Bodnar, Ph.D.
Committee Member 2
Justin Major, PhD
Committee Member 3
Sarah Ferguson, PhD
Committee Member 4
Rachel Kajfez, Ph.D.
Keywords
DIsability;Identity;Narrative;Social Network Analysis
Disciplines
Engineering
Abstract
A persistent challenge in the field of engineering education is attracting and maintaining a diverse population of students. A large body of research is dedicated to characterizing the unique obstacles faced by marginalized and minoritized students and developing interventions to overcome these obstacles. However, throughout these efforts, one population has remained underrepresented and under-investigated: disabled students. This dissertation serves as an exploratory investigation into this population using three approaches: resource usage, social connections, and narratives. The first study in this work surveys the resources disabled engineering students use to support themselves and the effect of the resources on the students' engineering identity. The second study explores the students' social resources—the people they consider supporters, the types of support these people offer, and the overall structure of the students' social networks. The third study follows the engineering journeys of four disabled engineering students, striving to understand their perception of their time in school and the coping mechanisms they developed to succeed. This dissertation found that the experience of disabled engineering students is diverse; there is no "one size fits all" solution available to support all disabled students. Rather, the work emphasizes the importance of understanding students' individual needs, raising awareness of effective yet underutilized resources, and encouraging students to pursue these resources.
Recommended Citation
Riley, Darby Rose, "Engineering the Self: Identity Formation Among Disabled Engineering Students" (2025). Theses and Dissertations. 3407.
https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/3407