Conference Session

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society Technical Session 2

Collection

2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Francesca Bartram; Natalie Wint; David Maxwell Rea

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society Division

]. Research into the culture ofengineering itself highlight what Cech [16] describes as a ‘culture of disengagement’ inengineering, upheld by three ideologies: depoliticization, which frames ‘non-technical’ issuessuch as public welfare as tangential to engineering work; technical-social dualism, whichprioritises the technical details and devalues ‘social’ dimensions; and meritocracy, whichpresents existing social structures as being fair and just. According to Cech, this ‘culture ofdisengagement’ from issues of public welfare may serve to sustain structures and practices ofinequality for disadvantaged groups.In a general sense, some of the factors suggested to impact upon the completion rates ofengineering degrees include: unsupportive institutional