What was eugenics? Did it ever really go away? These questions are surprisingly hard to answer. Feminists, progressive activists, and historians of science have addressed these questions in very different ways. The answer matters  ... more

What was eugenics? Did it ever really go away? These questions are surprisingly hard to answer. Feminists, progressive activists, and historians of science have addressed these questions in very different ways. The answer matters more and more as we move increasingly toward a scientific and social framework once thought discredited, that genes matter a great deal in determining the sort of people we are. New technologies raise the spectre of made-to-order babies for the very rich, while also opening up new possibilities for non-nuclear families--lesbian and gay parents, or families where ?gestational? and ?genetic? relatedness derive from different parents. All of this raises new questions about adoption--overseas and domestic--and how we see children and adults with disabilities. The course will examine the proposition that we need a more nuanced grammar of eugenics, genetic determinism, and reproductive technology, one that takes into account the possibility that they span the political spectrum from the hard right to the progressive left. Keywords, gender equity   less

Ms. article about special blog issue on Sally Ride. Excerpt: "Since America first saw Ride in her blue NASA jumpsuit, she has been the face of the “modern scientist”—an idol that more closely resembled girls and young women who we  ... more

Ms. article about special blog issue on Sally Ride. Excerpt: "Since America first saw Ride in her blue NASA jumpsuit, she has been the face of the “modern scientist”—an idol that more closely resembled girls and young women who were labeled “tomboys” or “brainy.” It seems like Ride enjoyed this sort of “tomboy heroism,” which let her to play off stereotypes while simultaneously debunk them. And one more influential act has come with her passing: In the obituary released by Sally Ride Science, the astronaut/scientist/trailblazer officially came out as a lesbian through the simple phrase, “survived by her partner of 27 years, Tam O’Shaugnessy.” Ride’s sister Bear, a lesbian as well, confirmed the romantic relationship today—a relationship that was hidden from the public eye. As Ride hoped she would change society’s perceptions of women in STEM, Bear hopes that her posthumous coming out will be a boost for LGBT youth. She told BuzzFeed, “I hope it makes is easier for kids growing up gay that they know that another one of their heroes was like them.” Since Ride’s first space mission in 1983, 42 American women have flown with NASA, though they still compose only 26 percent of NASA’s astronaut corp as of 2008. We have a way to go in eliminating the STEM gender gap, but let’s not forget the woman who brought this gap to our attention and forced us to reexamine the way we envision a scientist, and hope we boost little girls who want to pursue the field."   less

Abstract While much is known about the experiences of women and racial/ethnic minority students in engineering education, the experiences of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) identifying students remain unstudied. This paper bre  ... more

Abstract While much is known about the experiences of women and racial/ethnic minority students in engineering education, the experiences of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) identifying students remain unstudied. This paper breaks this silence with a study of the ways LGB students at a major research university in the Western US both experience and navigate the climate of their engineering college. We find that, because of pervasive anti-gay sentiments and dualistic thinking that often conflates homosexuality with technical incompetence, these students do not have access to the same opportunities of success as their heterosexual peers. Nevertheless, through coping strategies which require immense amounts of additional effort, LGB students bravely navigate this climate with tactics that include "passing" as heterosexual, "covering" or downplaying cultural characteristics associated with LGB identities, and garnering expertise that makes themselves indispensable to others. These additional work burdens are accompanied by academic and social isolation, often making engineering school a hostile place for LGB identifying students. Beyond breaking ground on an unstudied population, this research theorizes categories of inequality within engineering education, such as sexual identity, which often do not have visible markers and often require disclosure. Citation: ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, June 14 - 17, 2009 - Austin, TX. This paper won Best Paper Award of ASEE Professional Interest Councils (PICs).   less