2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

As engineers in academic settings, the research we conduct is often geared toward enhancing understanding of or developing new technologies that will impact society. As we aim to make these technologies beneficial, it is critical to analyze and engage with our research through an equity lens. However, this way of thinking is often neglected in engineering curriculum and the research process. Prior studies have revealed that positive self-evaluations of confidence can be correlated with improved motivation in the academic setting. Furthermore, anti-racism training has shown to increase bystander response in racially-charged situations of varying severity. To motivate and begin the process of engaging with the interaction between engineering research and its social justice context, we developed a workshop, titled “Contextualizing Your Research” (CYR), that walked participants through case studies regarding social justice issues in engineering practice and research. The workshop was open to graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, staff, and faculty for the past three years. The workshops engaged small, mixed groups of graduate students, faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and staff with case studies that specifically corresponded to key research areas within the hosting department. This workshop aimed to facilitate understanding of how racial discrimination in scientific and engineering work results in harm to minoritized communities and encourage participants to think critically about individual and systemic changes that promote social justice. Using survey data and responses to discussion questions from the small group worksheets collected from the CYR workshops from 2020 to 2022, we aim to understand how these populations interact with social justice content in the contexts of engineering practice and research and to evaluate if the workshop structure motivated and facilitated this interaction. Ultimately, we aim to increase scientists’ and engineers’ motivations to critically reflect and act in regard to the social impacts of science and engineering research.