Unpacking Professional Shame: Patterns of White Male Engineering Students Living in and out of Threats to Their Identities

Autor/inn/en	Huff, James L.; Okai, Benjamin; Shanachilubwa, Kanembe; Sochacka, Nicola W.; Walther, Joachim
Titel	Unpacking Professional Shame: Patterns of White Male Engineering Students Living in and out of Threats to Their Identities
Quelle	In: Journal of Engineering Education, 110 (2021) 2, S.414-436 (23 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Huff, James L.) ORCID (Okai, Benjamin) ORCID (Shanachilubwa, Kanembe) ORCID (Sochacka, Nicola W.) ORCID (Walther, Joachim)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1069-4730
DOI	10.1002/jee.20381
Schlagwörter	College Students; White Students; Males; Engineering Education; Self Concept; Emotional Experience; Psychological Patterns; Expectation; Professional Identity; Standards; Failure + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Collegestudent; Male; Männliches Geschlecht; Ingenieurausbildung; Selbstkonzept; Expectancy; Erwartung; Standard
Abstract	Background: Although prior research has provided robust descriptions of engineering students' identity development, a gap in the literature exists related to students' emotional experiences of shame, which undergird the socially constructed expectations of their professional formation. Purpose: We examined the lived experiences of professional shame among White male engineering students in the United States. We conceptualize professional shame to be a painful emotional state that occurs when one perceives they have failed to meet socially constructed expectations or standards that are relevant to their identity in a professional domain. Method: We conducted unstructured interviews with nine White male engineering students from both a research-focused institution and a teaching-focused institution. We used interpretative phenomenological analysis to examine the interview transcripts. Results: The findings demonstrated four themes related to how participants experienced professional shame. First, they negotiated their global, or holistic, identities in the engineering domain. Second, they experienced threats to their identities within professional contexts. Third, participants responded to threats in ways that gave prominence to the standards they perceived themselves to have failed. Finally, they repaired their identities through reframing shame experiences and seeking social connection. Conclusions: The findings demonstrate that the professional shame phenomenon is interwoven with professional identity development. In experiencing professional shame, White male students might reproduce the shame experience for themselves and others. This finding has important implications for the standards against which members from underrepresented groups may compare themselves and provides insight into the social construction of engineering cultures by dominant groups. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01