A major theme in the literature regarding women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields concerns the construction of STEM as a masculine dogma. Past research suggests that women's previous exclusion and persistent under-representation is rooted in the construction of science as rational, objective, neutral and in opposition to traditional notions of femininity or alternative modes of masculinities. Being included, as man or woman, in the object that we are trying to comprehend, we have embodied the historical structures of the masculine order in the form of unconscious schemes of perception and appreciation. When we try to understand masculine domination we are therefore likely to resort to modes of thought that are the product of domination. Nowadays, the studies about the under-representation of women explore the idea of individual and institutional barriers women face by focusing on their direct experiences, however this paper will center the attention to the boundaries from engineering faculty members. Further, it suggests ways that the idea of boundaries can help analyze the content and ideas that define engineering these days, and investigate whether the conceptual borders of engineering itself could be considered as having gender-based distinctions. This research provides a different perception of how boundaries can be interpreted in engineering, how engineering faculty members in Mexico engage in these boundaries, which will help us understand the socially-influenced choices that determine who can be engineers and what engineering is. Pawley mentions that in the United States most of the programs designed to address women's persistent underrepresentation in STEM disciplines employ "pipeline" or "chilly climate" metaphors, or a combination of the two. Programs that employ this model attempt to "increase the flow" of those underrepresented populations into the inlet by increasing access to scientific and technical programs, and plugging the aforementioned leaks. Chilly climate-based models suggest that a "chilly environment" that discourages people already under environmental stress causes the leaks. In other words, Pawley assures that these programs, which help to stem these leaks, provide metaphorical "sweaters" - "survival tools" for underrepresented populations to better withstand the chilly environment - or train their white male peers on how to increase the "thermostat" by implementing, for example, parent-friendly tenure procedures, gender-neutral hiring protocols, or the much-maligned idea of "sensitivity training".
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