Teaching Elements and Principles of Bridge Design - International ...

FEATURE ARTICLE
technology education professionals at
the 1997 Technology Student
Association conference. Of 150
instruments distributed, 95 were
completed (63% response rate).
Thirty-nine women and 56 men
participated in the survey. The survey
consisted of 52 items intended to
determine respondents’ perceptions
on issues or situations. Each
statement was followed by a
continuum that respondents marked
with an "X" to indicate their
perception (Mueller, 1986). Readers
who desire details of the specific
methods and findings are encouraged
to read the full report in the Journal
of Technology Education (Haynie,
1999), which is available online at
http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JTE/.
The findings of the 1999 survey
(Haynie) included: “(1) all technology
education professionals should regard
the school environment as a setting
that requires a more conservative
demeanor than society at large, (2)
they should realize that their colleagues
are likely a little more conservative than
the values implied by contemporary
society, (3) they should be sensitive to
constantly monitor the appropriateness
of their own actions and adjust them
according to the reactions of others,
and (4) should treat all persons with
respect and fairness—judging them on
their performance and ignoring all other
potentially divisive factors.” (p 39)
The second effort was qualitative
research based on ethnographic
interview technique. The researcher
followed guidelines in a classic work
by Spradley (1979) for conduction of
fruitful ethnographic interviews. Borg
and Gall (1989), Burgess (1985),
Goetz and LeCompte (1984), and
Merriam (1988) were also consulted
for help with design of the study and
instrument. A paper instrument was
used to record data, and the
interviews were tape recorded. To
make the participants feel valued
(Spradley, 1979) and to allow for a
lengthy interview in comfort, the
interviews were conducted
individually in restaurants during a
meal or dessert. Twelve women from
various perspectives within the
profession were interviewed. TTT
readers desiring to know more about
the demographics of the informants,
details of the instrument, and a full
discussion of the methodology are
directed to the complete 14-page
report in the Journal of Technology
Education (Haynie, 2003). (Note: This
journal is available in hardcopy and
also online at http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/
ejournals/JTE/ .)
In the interviews of the 2003 study,
the women reported the following
perceptions: a basic comfort level
and improvement since the
curriculum change toward computers
and away from heavy industry; a
perceived difference between older
and younger men in the profession—
a few of the older men were
perceived to hold outdated or biased
views; and a field historically
dominated and governed by an “old
boys club” with conformist values—
more mature women felt they were
pioneers who broke new ground
when they entered this field.
The news was generally good.
Despite a few negative comments
and examples, overall the informants
reported that they felt very
comfortable most of the time in
technology education (TE), students
respect them, they wish more girls
would take courses and consider a
TE profession, and most men make
appropriate efforts to insure their
comfort. Actions the profession could
take to increase enrollment of
females and attract more female
teachers include: equity camps,
online courses that permit lateral
entry teachers to prepare without
abandoning jobs or children,
technology camps, lateral entry
opportunities for a second career in
TE, high visibility events such as TSA
and standards research efforts, and
possibly affirmative action efforts to
attract women.
In answer to other questions in the
interviews, one informant pointed out
that there are no females on the
current ITEA Board (at that time) and
that the few who served before were
“alone.” In most instances, though,
the women felt that professionals in
technology education correctly
recognized the expected language
and behavior patterns in cross-gender
relationships, and they acted
accordingly. One woman followed
this by saying there are no “skeletons
in the closet” to find. Some questions
attempted to find out the degree to
which females advocated for
themselves and others in various
situations. In one of these items,
when asked how they manage
situations in which students crossed
the line of decency, most informants
agreed they would reprimand
students who used derogatory terms
in description of homosexuals, or
commented on another student’s
body type or sex appeal.
There were, however, reports of
isolated negative events. Actual
offensive events experienced
included:
• “At an ITEA conference, a former
classmate hugged me too closely,
clinging in the presence of my
spouse.”
• “At a conference an older man
made a comment about the ‘good
looking woman’ and it made me
feel like a token instead of a
valued professional.”
• “One professor frequently made me
feel like I stood out; it was isolated
to only one person but it was
obvious to everyone. I do not think
he even knew he was offending
me.”
• “One former faculty colleague
used offensive language
frequently. Another actually made
a sexual advance.”
• “A man whom I seldom see except
at conferences is a close hugger
and sometimes makes ‘fresh’
comments. I believe he thinks he is
being cute or funny—I try to avoid
him.”
THE TECHNOLOGY TEACHER • April 2005 13