International Journal of Contemporary Education Vol. 6, No. 1; April 2023 ISSN 2575-3177 E-ISSN 2575-3185 Published by Redfame Publishing URL: http://ijce.redfame.com 29 “Oscillating Between Hope and Despair”: A Narrative Case Study of Culture and Coping for Women in Engineering in Higher Education and Industry Batsheva Guy 1 , Brittany Arthur 1 , Whitney Gaskins 1 , Christopher Cooper 1 1 University of Cincinnati, USA Correspondence: Batsheva Guy, University of Cincinnati, USA. Received: February 7, 2023 Accepted: March 10, 2023 Online Published: March 11, 2023 doi:10.11114/ijce.v6i1.5908 URL: https://doi.org/10.11114/ijce.v6i1.5908 Abstract Women in engineering in all phases (students, faculty, and industry) are traditionally underrepresented, and have been underrepresented in the field for decades (Eaton et al., 2020). The United States government has invested in STEM disciplines to address the low presence of women in STEM fields and the STEM workforce (National Academy of Sciences, 2016). Lower representation can be attributed to numerous factors, including a lack of institutional commitment, lack of representation throughout students’ upbringing, inappropriate cultural recruitment/outreach efforts, educational discrepancies throughout PK-12, and social expectations among others (Seymour & Hewitt 1997; Geisinger & Raman, 2013; Camacho et al., 2010; Smith et al., 2012). Not only is there low representation in the field of engineering, but also low retention for students, faculty, and industry due to the same factors that impact representation. The current qualitative study is a narrative case study utilizing relational interviewing. Participants included three women in the engineering field-- an undergraduate student, a professional engineer, and a faculty member and administrator. The key themes we uncovered-- Impact of Dominant Culture; Lack of Belonging/Connection; Justification of Existence; Emotional Turmoil; Coping Strategies—are woven throughout and across the narratives. Actionable change that we hope will come from this narrative study include determining ways we can make the engineering field more inclusive at all levels– in the classroom, on co-op, at universities, in academia, and on the field in industry. Keywords: women in engineering; engineering education; engineering; narrative case study; coping strategies; improving culture 1. Introduction 1.1 Undergraduate Women Experiences Studies have shown that various factors impact women’s desire to pursue careers in engineering (Bona et al., 2010). Oftentimes, negative factors discourage students from entering or continuing in engineering majors. Stereotypes have been shown to negatively impact the self-efficacy of many undergraduate women in engineering majors (Cadaret et al., 2017). According to Bandura (1999), Gender-based stereotypes were shown to influence the self-efficacy of the students even more than their engineering capabilities. Women in engineering were shown to succeed in engineering environments where inclusive environments have been procured. Obiomon et al. (2007) found that barriers were intensified and compounded for Black women who repeatedly were held to harsher standards while also being the group who was least likely to receive encouragement and acknowledgement for intellect, skills, and work. Morelock’s study (2017) was able to confirm Gee’s findings (2001) regarding the marginalization of students attributable to their social identities such as gender, race and class. 1.2 Experiences of Women in Faculty Women have reported high levels of discrimination and dissatisfaction working as engineering faculty (Britton et al., 2012). This is especially true for Black and Latino women (Walkington, 2017). Scholar Ashford-Hanserd (2020) found that Black women predominantly had negative experiences, most of which took place during graduate education. Negative stereotypes and biases played a major role in their experiences while pursuing Masters’ and PhD degrees. Researchers have found that “persistence in the academy was aided by (1) supportive colleagues internal to the