Microaggressions in Engineering Education: Targets, Perpetrators, and Where They Happen

Minoritized students in civil engineering frequently experience subtle negative attitudes or biases based on their race and gender. These subtle attitudes and biases are known as microaggressions and are reasons for low self-efficacy and retention in civil engineering. Previous studies demonstrated the prevalence of microaggressions in engineering education but did not focus on capturing the spaces where these microaggressions occur, nor do they identify the targets and perpetrators within civil engineering education. The current paper proposes to answer: (1) Where do microaggressions occur in civil engineering and non–civil engineering programs? (2) Who are the targets and perpetrators of microaggressions? The study included 328 surveys with minoritized undergraduate engineering students who identified as Black, Latinx, Asian, and white females. We found that the most significant spaces where microaggressions occurred were classrooms and labs, followed by office hours, study groups, and internships. In terms of perpetrators, peers and teaching assistants were the most significant, followed by faculty. When comparing targets of microaggressions across race groups, white females reported experiencing microaggressions less frequently than Black, Latinx, and Asian students. Black students reported experiencing microaggressions more frequently than any other groups included in the study. Finally, there was no difference observed among civil engineering and non–civil engineering students or the two institutions (a historically Black college and university and a primarily white institution). These findings provide recommendations for targeting better policies to address microaggressions in civil engineering education.