Black engineering and computing doctoral students' peer interaction that foster racial isolation

Black graduate students in engineering and computing experience isolation due to their underrepresentation. In this manuscript, we analyzed how Black engineering and computing doctoral students' experiences of isolation and impostor syndrome were exacerbated by negative interactions with their Asian international peers. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 23 Black PhD students regarding their doctoral experiences. Across the interviews, participants expressed similar experiences in their programs: 1) Feelings of racial isolation from underrepresentation among their peers, 2) Perceptions that Asian peers were positioned to be in STEM which made Black students feel as though they were impostors in their academic fields 3.) Interactions with Asian peers that challenged their sense of belonging in their departments and programs, leading them to feel increased isolation and minimal support. This research affirms the need to create and employ initiatives at the institutional or departmental level to make engineering and computing programs more inclusive spaces for diverse students and to combat the types of exclusionary practices that hamper and damper the experiences and potentially the outcomes of Black PhD engineers and technologists.