Engineering and Social Justice: Research and Education of (In)commensurable Fields of Practice

该项目由科学与工程跨NSF项目伦理教育支持，调查工程与社会正义之间的关系。 鉴于21世纪世纪的全球性挑战，工程教育工作者正在实施创新的方法来培养明天的工程师-包括社区服务，可持续发展和人道主义工程的计划和课程。 工程专业的学生可能会在这些项目和课程中实施各种形式的社会正义，这提出了重要的问题。工科学生如何诠释社会正义？这些解释如何与他们作为工程师的教育相交？工程学和社会正义有什么共同点？在美国近代史上，这两个实践领域以何种方式结合、冲突或相互作用？如何以及为什么要有效地在整个工程课程中教授和传播社会正义的相关方面？该项目的主要目标是研究这些问题，并开发针对工程与社会正义之间相关联系的教育资源，允许对社会正义进行各种解释。为了实现这一目标，该项目研究工程师和社会正义之间的历史和伦理联系。此外，鉴于与社区服务和人道主义工程相关的大学课程激增，该项目通过开发相关的教学案例研究做出了贡献。 该项目还将导致一本关于工程和社会正义的书，其中章节探讨了新政期间工程的社会正义维度，20世纪60年代的激进和非激进工程师，适当技术的工程师，可持续发展的工程师和工程师。主要的项目合作伙伴和观众包括工程教师和学生，积极追求社会正义目标的组织工程师，以及对社会正义问题感兴趣的工程教育工作者日益增长的网络。该项目将通过增加美国工程专业学生，特别是女性和代表性不足的群体的招聘和保留产生广泛的影响，因为学生越来越关注他们职业的社会相关性。

This project, supported by the Ethics Education in Science and Engineering Cross-NSF program, investigates the relationship between engineering and social justice. Given the global challenges of the 21st century, engineering educators are implementing innovative ways to prepare tomorrow's engineers--including programs and courses in community service, sustainable development, and humanitarian engineering. That engineering students might be enacting various forms of social justice in these programs and courses raises important questions. How are engineering students interpreting social justice? How do those interpretations intersect with their education as engineers? What might engineering and social justice have in common? In which ways have these two fields of practice aligned, clashed, or interfaced in recent US history? How and why should relevant dimensions of social justice be effectively taught and disseminated throughout engineering curricula? The main goal of this project is to research these questions and develop educational resources aimed at relevant connections between engineering and social justice, allowing for various interpretations of social justice. To achieve this goal, the project researches historical and ethical connections between engineers and social justice. Furthermore, given the surge in university programs related to community service and humanitarian engineering, the project contributes by developing relevant instructional case studies. The project will also result in a book about Engineering and Social Justice with chapters exploring the social-justice dimensions of engineering during the New Deal, radical and non-radical engineers in the 1960s, engineers of appropriate technology, engineers of sustainable development, and engineering to help. Primary project partners and audiences include engineering faculty and students, engineers in organizations actively pursuing social-justice goals, and a growing network of engineering educators interested in social justice issues. This project stands to have a broad impact by increasing recruitment and retention among US engineering students, particularly women and underrepresented groups, as students become more concerned with the social relevance of their careers.