LEARNING FROM ECOFEMINISM: DECONSTRUCTING THE DUALISTIC ‘SOFT’ VS. ‘HARD’ NATURE OF ENGINEERING EDUCATION

There has been little progress in increasing the diversity of engineering over the past three and a half decades. Much of the diversity work in engineering has an implicit liberal feminism and fails to deconstruct the hierarchical social categories and the underlying ideals of engineering culture. There is a growing need to critically look at the embedded culture of engineering and how this presents a barrier to diversity. This paper provides a critical review of key ecofeminist literature and how engineering education can learn from ecofeminist approaches. The ecofeminist framework aims to breakdown dualisms that artificially separate humans and nature, and rather emphasizes the essential interdependence of all organisms. The aim of this work is to better understand how ecofeminism could be used as a framework to change the culture of engineering education to create a more inclusive environment and foster a greater holistic skillset in our students.