Spoiler: Mocking the oppressor is not fascism. And these “scholars” are oppressors. Plus:
The Fix asked the authors how will this study improve students’ learning in regards to engineering, in what ways has the current engineering culture presented barriers on women, people of color, and the LGBTQ+ community and what was their “anti fascist and trans/queer” process like to transform malicious response into results that can help the researchers.
The Fix sent a follow up email on July 13. No one has responded.
Some of the listed negative responses, as determined by the scholars, also included “female” “trans male” and “nonbinary queer.” One person also wrote “male” for gender and “Puerto-Rican American” as their race.
The Fix emailed again on July 18 to ask for clarity on why answers including “female,” “trans male” and “nonbinary queer” were considered malicious.
Other responses criticized the survey for “ruining” science.
“I really can’t be bothered at this point. You’re ruining genuine scientific disciplines here,” one person wrote. “There are two genders, male and female. If an engineer creates a bolt and a nut but then whimsically labels them, then they’re not that great of an engineer.’’
Maybe the kids are alright.