"You\´re all a bunch of fucking feminists:" Addressing the perceived conflict between gender and professional identities using the Montreal Massacre

A case study of the Montreal Massacre was employed in a core engineering thermodynamics class, using two video news clips to spur discussion about the event and about the intersection of gender identity and feminist politics with the engineering profession. In the pilot test of our lesson plan, students discussed strategies for addressing overt and subtle sexism, negotiating questions of dress in the profession, the ways they use gendered behavior or gender distancing as strategies, work-life balance, competition and women´s success as a threat. Such concerns are not typically included in professionalization aspects of engineering curricula, but their importance for both women and men is evident. We present our lesson plan and discussion outcomes, and address multiple contexts in which this case can be utilized to teach about gender and engineering