Reconstructing engineering from practice

Social and Technical Dimensions of Engineering Identity

“…From his ethnographic study of early career engineers, for instance, Trevelyan supports this sentiment by noting that "technical coordination," or "working with and influencing other people so they conscientiously performing some necessary work in accordance with a mutually agreed schedule" (p. 191), was identified as the most prominent skill required in his studies of engineering practice. 17 His later work characterizes engineering as a "combined human performance, in which expertise is distributed among the participants and emerges from their social interactions" (p. 176) 18 Consistent with these findings, Brunhaver et al conclude that "[i]n addition to doing technical work, young engineers are responsible for non-technical tasks that require significant social interaction, such as managing projects and coordinating the work of other people." 19 This conclusion is supported by data from a large-scale, interview-based study of both young engineers and longitudinally tracked engineering students 19 .…”

“…A growing body of scholarship has discussed how dominant cultures of engineering shape students' and professionals' understandings of social and technical dimensions of their work [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] . Further, engineering education research has advanced understanding of how engineering identity is formed by external, structural forces [12][13][14][15] .…”

Engineering Practice as an Emerging Field of Inquiry: a Historical Overview

“…The contours of engineering workplace practice which have been taking shape in the emerging field described in the previous section have implications for engineering education: present courses tend to favour an engineering science approach and do not give attention to the development of competencies that provide value for a firm employing young engineers such as skills in negotiating the socio-technical aspects of workplace practice, effective coordination and communication skills and experience in tackling complex ill-structure problems (Bucciarelli, 2003, Trevelyan 2010, Jorgensen 2007, Korte et al 2008, Martin 2005. As Korte and his colleagues have pointed out recent engineering graduates often start with lowlevel, low-risk assignments which firms described as a method to orient the newcomer to work (Korte et al 2008).…”

Tensions of Integration in Professional Formation: Investigating Development of Engineering Students' Social and Technical Perceptions

“…A growing body of scholarship has discussed how dominant cultures of engineering shape students' and professionals' understandings of social and technical dimensions of their work [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] . Further, engineering education research has advanced understanding of how engineering identity is formed by external, structural forces [13][14][15][16] .…”

“…The technology produced by engineers must not only function as predicted by mathematical and theoretical models but must also operate beneficially and seamlessly in complex social contexts. In this sense, engineers must embody an integrated social and technical -or sociotechnicalidentity rather than a dualistic social/technical one 5,6,7 . …”