Does Public Welfare Responsibility Training in Engineering Education Shape Engineering Professionals’ Reasoning about Ethical Issues?
- Conference
- Location
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Minneapolis, MN
- Publication Date
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August 23, 2022
- Start Date
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June 26, 2022
- End Date
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June 29, 2022
- Conference Session
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LEES 5: Preparing and Practicing Culturally and Ethically Sensitive Engagement
- Page Count
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17
- DOI
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10.18260/1-2--40494
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/40494
- Download Count
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309
Paper Authors
Erin Cech University of Michigan
Erin A. Cech is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Associate Professor by courtesy in the Department of Mechanical Engineering.
Cech joined the University of Michigan in 2016. Before coming to UM, she was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Clayman Institute for Gender Research at Stanford University and was on faculty at Rice University. She earned her Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California, San Diego and undergraduate degrees in Electrical Engineering and Sociology from Montana State University.
Cech's research examines cultural mechanisms of inequality reproduction--specifically, how inequality is reproduced through processes that are not overtly discriminatory or coercive, but rather those that are built into seemingly innocuous cultural beliefs and practices. She investigates this puzzle through three avenues of research. First, she uses quantitative and qualitative approaches to examine inequality in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) professions--specifically, the recruitment and retention of women, LGBT, and under-represented racial/ethnic minority students and practitioners and the role of professional cultures in this inequality. Second, Cech examines how cultural definitions of “good work” and “good workers” can anchor inequality in the workforce. For example, she examines the role of the “passion principle” in the reproduction of occupational inequalities: how seemingly voluntary and self-expressive career decisions help reproduce processes like occupational sex segregation. Finally, she studies how cultural understandings of the extent and origin of inequality help to uphold unequal social structures. Cech’s research is funded by multiple grants from the National Science Foundation. She is a member of the editorial board of the American Journal of Sociology and her research has been cited in The New York Times, Harvard Business Review, Time, The Washington Post, The Guardian, Forbes, Chronicle of Higher Education and the news sections of Science and Nature.
Cech's first book, The Trouble with Passion: How Searching for Fulfilment at Work Fosters Inequality (University of California Press) was published Nov 2021
Website: https://erinacech.com
Cynthia Finelli University of Michigan
Dr. Cynthia Finelli is Professor of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, Professor of Education, and Director of Engineering Education Research at University of Michigan. In her research she focuses on increasing faculty adoption of evidence-based instruction, promoting students' sociotechnical skills and abilities, and supporting the success of neurodiverse engineering students and faculty. Dr. Finelli is a Fellow of the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) and the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), co-chair for the ASEE Committee on Scholarly Publications, and member of the Governing Board of the Research in Engineering Education Network. She is currently associate editor of the European Journal of Engineering, and she has previously served as deputy editor for the Journal of Engineering Education, associate editor for the IEEE Transactions on Engineering, and member of the Steering Committee for the IEEE/ASEE Frontiers in Education Conference. She founded the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching in Engineering at University of Michigan in 2003 and served as its Director for 12 years. Dr. Finelli earned the B.S.E., M.S.E., and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from University of Michigan.
Elana Goldenkoff University of Michigan
Teanne Davis University of Michigan
Abstract
Postindustrial societies are characterized by complex technological objects and systems. The publics therein are increasingly reliant on engineers to take public welfare into account when designing and maintaining these objects and systems and raise awareness when public welfare is threatened. The training engineers receive in their engineering undergraduate education is thus expected to foster their sense of responsibility to public welfare, but such training may be absent or insufficient. In this paper, we draw on a survey of 120 employed engineers in the US to assess the extent to which they received formal public responsibility training in their undergraduate education and to assess the relationships between this training and their response to one of four randomly assigned ethical dilemmas. We find that engineers who reported receiving training in public welfare responsibilities as undergraduate students felt better prepared to address public welfare issues than those who had not received such training. Individuals with training in public welfare responsibilities were less likely to identify the ethical dilemma as irrelevant to their work, indicate that such dilemmas happen all the time, be uncomfortable reporting the issue, and believe that their colleagues might respect them less if they report. These findings have implications for improving engineering ethics education and ethical conduct trainings within engineering practice more broadly.
Cech, E., & Finelli, C., & Goldenkoff, E., & Davis, T. (2022, August), Does Public Welfare Responsibility Training in Engineering Education Shape Engineering Professionals’ Reasoning about Ethical Issues? Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--40494
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