Humanities And Social Sciences On The Outer In Australian Engineering Education

Abstract

The relatively poor social standing of the engineering profession in Australia relative to other major professions, and its general inability to attract both a higher proportion of women as well as a high caliber of more intellectually able young people, has been of concern to both the profession and engineering educators. This paper argues that this is due to the unclear perceptions of the engineering profession as being "hard hat" and highly technical in nature; a perception which is at odds with the realities of the world of engineering practice, where the application of broad knowledge and an understanding of the human dimension of engineering enterprise is required. These realities are not generally reflected by the engineering curricula at Australia universities. In many schools there is an excessive emphasis on highly technical matters in engineering curricula, which excludes not only greater technical diversity but also the skills and knowledge of human affairs necessary in engineering practice. An analysis shows that despite many recommendations in Australia for a greater emphasis on social sciences and humanities in engineering curricula, the expansion in these non-technical areas has been slow to take anchor within the schools, departments and faculties of engineering in Australia. It is argued that this is essentially a problem of the academic culture operating within engineering schools and faculties in Australia, which is based on scientific norms derived from science. Finally the idea of cultural change within engineering schools and departments is explored.

Análise bibliométrica das publicações do enegep sobre educação em Engenharia de Produção entre 2016 e 2020

“…Compete às instituições de ensino considerarem requisitos desejantes pelos empregadores da área, uma vez que a empregabilidade dos acadêmicos depende das habilidades de mercado de trabalho que os mesmos possuem. O ensino de Engenharia de Produção precisa de um currículo relacionado com o mundo real vivido pela sua profissão (Ayob, Osman, Osmar, Jamaluddin, Kofli e Johar, 2013;Rojter, 2010).…”

Liberal Education: A Survey Of Goals

“…Rojter, in his study of six Australian universities 3 , presents an educational system still struggling with the value of liberal education. Earliest figures from 1987 reveal that two courses of study at two Australian universities allocated no humanities, social sciences or management subjects in their curricula.…”