The Politics of Citation Practices in Engineering Education: A Citation Analysis of Intersectionality

Using a citation network analysis, this project analyzes the 209 instances of the term “intersectionality” in the ASEE PEER repository to locate the central authors and texts that inform the field's use of the term. In this citational analysis, we suggest that the limited citation of Black women should be interrogated and redressed as a form of inequity. Framing this project within the politics of citation and the current campaign to #CiteBlackWomen, we work to explore how the term “intersectional” has been embraced, whose theories have been adopted, ignored, and replicated, and question the lack of a strong, central foundation of Black woman scholars and theorists. We situate our study alongside the complex theoretical treatments of intersectionality in Hill Collins, Hancock, and other treatises that tie intersectionality to oppression rather than identity. We make recommendations that address the politics of citations within engineering education as the field continues to address issues of social justice, equity and inclusion.