ABSTRACT
This chapter challenges existing engineering education research (EER) methodology by describing the deep embeddedness of anti-Black ideas in the dominant approaches to knowledge production in the field. Since the way White supremacy has shaped EER approaches is largely hidden, due to either silence or ignorance, this narration is grounded in the authors’ experiences and perspectives as Black scholars with doctorates in engineering education from the two oldest US engineering education programs. Building on prior critiques of US EER and drawing on Black intellectuals from various traditions, the authors respond to the need for race-conscious research practices within the field by (1) discussing the importance of understanding the historical context in which a researcher is embedded, (2) demonstrating the importance of understanding research paradigms and disclosing positionalities, (3) critiquing how conventional EER socializes scholars into knowledge production and communication, and (4) calling for alternative practices that center the humanity, cultural knowledge, and lived experience of Black people as a method of transgressing and challenging epistemological norms. The chapter is written in support of the many Black scholars working to be heard and as provocation to the EER community to redress the false notions of colorblindness and objective research.
