Work in Progress: Undergraduate Student Perceptions of Macroethical Issues in Aerospace Engineering
- Conference
- Location
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Baltimore , Maryland
- Publication Date
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June 25, 2023
- Start Date
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June 25, 2023
- End Date
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June 28, 2023
- Conference Session
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Work-in-Progress Session: Exploring Learning and Development in Engineering Courses
- Tagged Division
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Educational Research and Methods Division (ERM)
- Page Count
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11
- DOI
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10.18260/1-2--44383
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/44383
- Download Count
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188
Paper Authors
Elizabeth Ann Strehl University of Michigan
Elizabeth is a graduate student at the University of Michigan studying Engineering Education Research under doctoral advisor Aaron Johnson. Her research focuses on weaving macro ethics into existing aerospace engineering curricula and institutional support methods for working class engineering students. Elizabeth earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan in 2019 with foci in Biomedical Engineering and Applied Mathematics.
Megan Ennis University of Michigan
Megan Ennis is a master’s student in aerospace engineering and a research assistant with the SHUTTLE Lab at the University of Michigan. After completing a B.S. in aerospace engineering at the University of Michigan, she spent a year at University of Cambridge for a master’s in gender studies. She returned to Michigan and is now enjoying her time as a graduate student instructor. Beyond being involved in the lab’s macroethics work, Megan’s research interest is to apply feminist theories to engineering education.
Aaron W. Johnson University of Michigan
Aaron W. Johnson (he/him/his) is an Assistant Professor in the Aerospace Engineering Department and a Core Faculty member of the Engineering Education Research Program at the University of Michigan. He believes in a strong connection between engineering education research and practice, and his research leverages his experience teaching engineering science courses to bridge the gap between theoretical, welldefined coursework and ill-defined, sociotechnical engineering practice. He received a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Michigan, and a Ph.D. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Prior to re-joining Michigan, he was an instructor in Aerospace Engineering Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder
Corin L. Bowen
California State University, Los Angeles
orcid.org/0000-0002-0910-8902
Corin (Corey) Bowen is an Assistant Professor of Engineering Education, housed in the Department of Civil Engineering at California State University - Los Angeles. Her engineering education research focuses on structural oppression in engineering systems, organizing for equitable change, and developing an agenda of Engineering for the Common Good. She teaches structural mechanics and sociotechnical topics in engineering education and practice. Corey conferred her Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor in April 2021; her thesis included both technical and educational research. She also holds an M.S.E. in aerospace engineering from the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor and a B.S.E. in civil engineering from Case Western Reserve University, both in the areas of structural engineering and solid mechanics.
Abstract
This work-in-progress study explores student perceptions of ethics in undergraduate aerospace engineering. Macroethics education is a topic that has been traditionally left out of aerospace engineering undergraduate programs, often leaving students ill-equipped to assess and address the positive and negative impacts of their future career field on humanity. Defined as the teaching of collective social responsibility within the engineering profession and societal decisions about technology, macroethics helps novice engineers better understand the real implications of their work in society. Aerospace engineering has been historically dominated by white cis-gendered male students, and the privilege that this majority holds affects the lens through which students perceive macroethical concepts in the field. Thus, there is a vital need for macroethical concepts to be included in undergraduate aerospace engineering curricula.
This study extends previous iterations of our research, in which one-day macroethics lessons were implemented into undergraduate aerospace engineering courses (Benham et al., 2021). These data were used to inform the development of a survey that was distributed to students in a senior-level aerospace engineering course at a different large, historically white, research-intensive, public university (Benham et al., 2022, Ennis et al. 2023). This work seeks to investigate undergraduate students’ perceptions and awareness of macroethical issues in aerospace engineering from a purely qualitative lens using a grounded theory methodological framework. Qualitative data from the survey explored students’ perspectives of what it means to be an ethical engineer, unethical practices in engineering, and other related questions and were inductively analyzed to identify common themes. Preliminary findings from the data analysis–the initial coding phase of a longer constructivist grounded theory analysis–identified that students demonstrate varied levels of awareness regarding macroethics in aerospace. Students expressed levels of acceptance, claiming to see “both sides” of the ethical arguments and that the role of aerospace in the defense industry is a “necessary evil”, or displayed resistance, desiring changes be made to the industry and more accountability as a consequence for their actions. In addition, students had a diverse understanding of who ultimately benefits from the aerospace industry, with students focusing on specific stakeholders, nations, or society at large. Other emergent themes explored students' understanding of the role of government/economy in the aerospace industry, ethics in professional practice, and students’ feelings of conflict or apathy about the role of aerospace engineering in the defense industry. These initial themes will be used to develop broader theories about how students construct meaning around macroethics in engineering disciplines. The overarching theories will be used to inform teaching practices concerning ethics in engineering education, refine future iterations of the macroethics lesson, and increase motivation to integrate macroethical education into existing aerospace engineering curricula.
Strehl, E. A., & Ennis, M., & Johnson, A. W., & Bowen, C. L. (2023, June), Work in Progress: Undergraduate Student Perceptions of Macroethical Issues in Aerospace Engineering Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--44383
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