MARCIA BRAUNDY
Ph.D. Student

In My Own Words

I returned to academia after a twenty-seven year hiatus in the private and non-profit sectors. Coming from 12 years of very high profile and respected roles representing the constituency of women in trades and technology at the national non-governmental organization (NGO) level, having sat on federal and provincial boards and committees, and toiled as a grass-roots activist and carpenter, entering the "Ivory Tower" at UBC was quite a challenge.

Being a graduate student is a very different role, requiring more humility than was called for in my previous work. Complicated by moving from a beautiful, rural valley in the interior of British Columbia to a gracious urban university setting with 35,000 students, faculty and staff, the transitional year was very difficult. After moving into the Centre, and into the Ph.D. Program, I began to find my bearings.

The wealth of interaction with others was the engagement for which I had come to university. The use of our Brown Bags for sharing ideas, introducing each other to new concepts, practicing conference presentations, role playing job interviews, dissertation defences et al, grounded me in the intellectual community I had eagerly expected from graduate school. The opportunity to engage and work with students from many lands with a rainbow of colours and contexts enriches my life and and broadens my scope. As we learn, so shall we teach. Building community has always been an important part of my life in the world, and it feels good to be learning and working with others who share some piece of that intellectual/emotional journey, fostering pedagogical spaces.

Working in the hands-on programs of Technology Studies, and teaching Tech teachers-in-training provides balance with the challenges of focused intellectual activity.

My research into 'Gender at Work in Trades and Technology: Investigating Resistance/s to Equity Initiatives' has recently been awarded a Doctoral Fellowship from the Social Sciences Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). In very brief, I will be using "a case study approach, reviewing historical materials/documents for dominant themes. Interviews will provide the voices, and analyses will provide the narrative and chorus to characterize and illustrate the findings into a theatrical script for future use as a pedagogical tool." Cases include technical exploratory programs for women and girls; teacher recruitment in technology education; and Employment Equity initiatives in industry.

My regularly under construction website can be found at:
http://www.cust.educ.ubc.ca/wstudents/tsed/braundy/home/