DISCUSSION & TIMELINE
Our team's diligent research has uncovered a crucial and concerning issue: Muslim women are underrepresented in STEM education, with a noticeable lack of academic papers and information on this topic. Further, many Muslim women currently pursuing STEM studies are disconnected from their Islamic heritage. Building upon these insightful findings, our research will explore the correlation between Muslim women in STEM and their Islamic identities and values, seeking to identify any potential linkages. With the aim of boosting the representation of Muslim women in STEM academia, we will publish a paper based on our thorough analysis, addressing this critical knowledge gap and paving the way for greater inclusivity in STEM education.
INTRODUCTION
This Participatory Action Research project aspires to explore how Islamic identity and values may impact Muslim women’s desire to pursue STEM in higher education within the United States. For this poster presentation, we share findings based on our literature review analysis that looked at contexts such as Islamic history and the experiences of Muslims in Western societies. The findings below paved the way for us to begin our own study that will focus on gathering data from Muslim women students in STEM fields at the University of Maryland, College Park.
METHODS
FINDINGS FROM LITERATURE ANALYSIS
POSITIONALITY STATEMENT
We are a Participatory Action Research (PAR) team of Muslim Women in STEM at the University of Maryland, College Park aspiring to decolonize STEM through the eyes of Muslim women. Our goal is to identify and investigate the correlation between Islamic values and history and the pursuit of STEM for the female population. We hope to analyze this profound trend to inspire the pursuit of STEM for Muslim women on the basis of Islamic principles
Shafa Alam, Yusra Husain, Mariam Khan, Nusrat Meetul,
& Vivian Zohery
For more information about the project and bibliography, please scan the QR code and/or contact vzohery@umd.edu
EMERGING THEMES (w/ coinciding intersectionality of identities) | PAPERS |
Overlap of Islamic values across fields of study, with a central focus on STEM-related fields (#1, #3) | AlKhateeb (2014), Moshfeghyeganeh & Hazari (2021), Faruqi (2007), Tlaiss (2015) |
Differences in values between Western and Islamic societies (#1, #4) | AlKhateeb (2014), Malik (2019), Moshfeghyeganeh & Hazari (2021), Rahman (2018), Faruqi (2007), Tlaiss (2015) |
The marginalization of the experiences of women of color in the West, particularly when compared to Islamic societies (#2, #4) | Moshfeghyeganeh &, Hazari (2021), Rahman (2018), Espinosa (2011), Tlaiss (2015) |
Underration of values associated with marginalized groups - feminine and/or Islamic - within careers in the West (#1, #2, #4) | Moshfeghyeganeh & Hazari (2021), Rahman (2018), Zine (2002) |
Islamophobia in the West, both as intentional acts of prejudice, and implicit appropriation and erasure of Islamic culture, knowledge, labor and identity (#1, #3, #4) | AlKhateeb (2014), Malik (2019), Faruqi (2007), Zine (2002) |
Underrepresentation and misrepresentation of Muslim women in the West and in Western feminism (#1, #2, #4) | Moshfeghyeganeh & Hazari (2021), Rahman (2018), Zine (2002) |
Devolution of the global perception of Islamic society throughout history, from a notably significant empire to an inferior (#1, #4) | AlKhateeb (2014) Malik (2019) Zine (2002) |
Resisting the STEMming of Muslim Women’s Pursuit of Scientific Endeavors
The gap of knowledge,
in both academic research and
the individual consciousness of Muslim women in STEM, strongly denotes a universalized colonization of knowledge, perpetuating and maintaining the marginalization of this community.