The Impact Of Culture On Engineering And Engineering Education

The environment influences the activities undertaken by engineering educators, students, and practitioners within a given institution or company. Established environments evoke a culture and a set of norms that provide situated experiences. These culturally influenced experiences shape our understanding, identity, interest, and solutions to engineering problems. The environments and associated cultures that make up our society – home, community, school, and workplace – contribute to the perceptions we hold as members of that society. Western society has adopted a culturally influenced notion that engineering drives innovation and technology and fosters entrepreneurship through ABET-accredited programs that educate students in applied sciences, computing, engineering, and engineering technology. Consequently, this has led to the natural identity of engineering being a masculine field for those interested in technology, mathematics, and the hard sciences. Such an image of engineering neglects the idea of engineering supporting society and improving the lives of people all over the world. The following chapter selects some important cultural considerations to be discussed in detail to highlight the impact societal culture, engineering culture, and engineering education culture have on how engineering is perceived by society, taught by engineering educators, and practiced by engineers. This survey of cultural considerations on engineering and engineering education spotlights the importance of culture and the implications it has on learning, teaching, engineering practice, identity, and enculturation as an engineer. The chapter uses a variety of research studies utilizing numerous research methods to enlighten and inform various engineering stakeholders to prioritize cultural considerations when preparing engineering students for real-world activities and engineers for global problems.