Criticality Is Crucial: Fidelity in What We Say and What We Do

Abstract

Martin and Garza’s (2020) article presented a commendable case for empowering marginalized students in engineering education research at a poignant moment in global history. Presenting the experiences of a Black woman navigating the consequences of structural educational barriers as Black Americans endured the consequences of structural injustices in health and law enforcement was quite compelling. This response extends the discussion of their work by engaging with two important questions: 1) What is autoethnography? and 2) How can White scholars support Black students without also reinforcing the benefits of White supremacy? Although these questions seem distinct—one focuses on the methodology, the other on the culture of scholarly practices—they represent a growing trend in engineering education research to use autoethnography as a way to present the voices of the marginalized. Because this trend has so much revolutionary potential, I provide some critical reflections on the culture of power in engineering education research and offer suggestions on how research practices can be healing-centered and power-shifting.