Dr. Tiffany D. Smith
As a Cherokee and Muscogee womxn who has worked with Indigenous engineering students for 13 years, I sought to reclaim our ways of knowing and gather stories responsibly utilizing two Indigenous-centered conceptual frameworks: Tribal critical race theory (Brayboy, 2006) and the Indigenous research paradigm (Wilson, 2008). I then employed Indigenous storywork (Archibald, 2008) as the methodology. Through storytelling, one can achieve balance because “stories have the power to make our hearts, minds, bodies, and spirits work together” (Archibald, 2008, p. 12). Cherokees strive to maintain Utiyvhi (balance) and we may smudge and/or participate in ceremonies to recenter our mind, body, and spirit. Smudging is a spiritual practice where we burn sacred plants, such as sage or sweetgrass, to cleanse our whole selves, as well as the space. I designed this study to visibilize Native student stories. To fully understand their experiences, I conducted individual Skype conversations with seven students currently enrolled as an engineering major at public four-year, non-Native institutions, or those who had graduated within the past five years.
As I worked toward establishing Utiyvhi, I turned to the Cherokee four cardinal directions of North (the Spirit), East (the Mind), South (the Body), and West (the Emotion) as a way to think through the seven engineering students’ stories. What developed was this medicine wheel graphic that portrays the relational flow and connection that the four lessons learned from the students’ stories have with one another. The four lessons provide Utiyvhi to their persistence in these STEM programs. At the center was the students’ maintenance of their cultural identity through connection to their communities, indicated by the sacred fire that symbolizes strength and unity as they come together in a powerful, collective way.
This medicine wheel shows the relational flow and connection between the four lessons of the students’ stories.
For the students in this study, the first lesson was a connection, beginning in their early childhood years, to STEM and later to engineering nurtured by their parents and teachers. Parents and teachers were instrumental in nurturing a fascination with STEM through K–12 education, facilitating math and science exposure and preparation. Parents encouraged the students’ pursuit of higher education. Connections to colleges from an early age aided in the students’ matriculation to college and college choice, which was based on proximity to home and other factors such as degree offerings and relevant cultural messaging. The two post-traditional students experienced hostility from their high school counselors, who attempted to “track” them to trade schools over college.
The students’ second lesson was utilizing survivance (Vizenor, 1998) to conquer the hidden curriculum during their collegiate journeys and to overcome serious systematic challenges, such as racism and isolation, and negative classroom experiences. Vizenor (1998) presented the concept of survivance as not just survival in hostile contexts but as an active presence and resistance to erasure. One of the students described the hidden curriculum as the dominant group’s way to maintain power in the engineering field, through sharing of past class notes and exams. She likened it to “playing a game” to be successful in these engineering majors (Smith, 2019). Negative classroom experiences included challenging coursework and difficult faculty members, which often led to setbacks in the students’ degree completion. All the students engaged with hostile environments that could have caused them to drop out or switch majors.
To reach Utiyvhi at non-Native institutions, it is crucial that higher education administrators seek to listen and understand the experiences of Indigenous engineering students.
The third lesson was building a community or “school family” (as one student coined it) and focused on the students’ avenues for support throughout their undergraduate engineering experiences. Students built their school family through family support, Native support programs, and faculty relationships. Most of the students noted that family members were integral to their persistence. Additionally, students built community and gained financial support through involvement in AISES, the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science, Native cultural centers or other Native organizations, and multicultural programs. Relationships with faculty also increased the students’ social capital in the engineering profession.
All the students’ experiences in engineering came full circle to the fourth lesson: establishing confidence in their engineering disciplines. Research has shown the link between self-efficacy and students’ choices to pursue and persist in engineering (Bandura, 1997; Pajares, 1996). The students in this study recognized the Indigenous knowledge they bring to the field makes them better engineers and problem solvers. Experiential learning attributed to self-efficacy in their field and provided additional financial assistance.
To reach Utiyvhi at non-Native institutions, it is crucial that higher education administrators seek to listen and understand the experiences of Indigenous engineering students. Armed with these problem-solving skills learned in the academy and from their own tribal nations, these students are a powerful force that utilizes their engineering skills to protect tribal lands and water resources and assist in health care, technology, and infrastructure advancements. As I have been transformed through this research, I hope others will gain invaluable insights that are applicable to their institutions that will inspire them to recognize and support Indigenous engineering students.
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