More Than a Checkbox: Exploring Intersectional Experiences of Engineering Students using the Social Identity Wheel

This Work-in-Progress, Research paper presents the experiences of three engineering students who navigate STEM education with multiple marginalized identities. Using the Social Identity Wheel as a framework, the study aims to fill gaps in intersectionality research by exploring the positionality and experiences of these marginalized students in STEM. This paper showcases the practical application of the Social Identity Wheel in computing and engineering education research, particularly for studies with small sample sizes, to guide in participant selection and data interpretation techniques. The findings underscore the significance of incorporating intersectional perspectives in all forms of educational research and the importance in understanding the complexities of intersectionality. The research questions guiding this study are: (1) How can the use of the Social Identity Wheel be used to further contextualize and explore the positionality and experiences of marginalized students in STEM? and (2) In what ways does the interplay of one's non-visible identities and visible identities intersect to shape their STEM experience?