Gendered boundaries: Using a “Boundary” metaphor to understand faculty members’ descriptions of engineering

Programs and theories that form around women\´s underrepresentation in engineering tend to use pipeline or chilly climate metaphors for their theoretical foundation. This paper investigates a metaphor new to engineers, that of "boundaries," to help make visible the disciplinary work engineering faculty members regularly do that could construct academic engineering as a gendered field. Through quotations drawn from an interview-based study of 10 engineering faculty members, I explore ideas of boundary language and work, and suggest ways in which the conceptual boundary of engineering can be interpreted as gendered. This paper provides CSET audiences with a new "tool to think with" when considering gender in engineering.