2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Understanding disciplinary culture in engineering is also important in order to attract and retain more underrepresented populations into engineering. However, in Latin America, and in Ecuador specifically, there has not been much research in engineering education focused on understanding how students perceive the different patterns of cultural traits in engineering majors. Although culture is a complex phenomenon, understanding aspects of it, especially at the disciplinary level, is important to identify paths to improve engineering education in general. For example, understanding how students’ perceive different aspects of their engineering major and their identity formation as engineers can help us understand how to develop effective pedagogical and curricular interventions that help students become effective practicing engineers ready to adapt to the challenges of the contemporary workforce. The purpose of this study is to further our previous studies and explore how engineering students perceive different dimensions associated with culture throughout different years in their majors. We are using Hofstede’s theory of dimensions of national cultures to measure culture in different patterns in the student’s perceptions of engineering. Data were collected from 357 students (147 during the Fall semester 2019, 72 during Fall 2021 and 138 during Fall 2022). The students are from a university in Ecuador. The survey was translated into Spanish and was reviewed by several native Spanish speakers. We piloted the survey with several students. The survey was administered online. Results provide preliminary information on how students perceive aspects of culture like individualism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and masculinity. We discuss the relationship of these constructs with aspects of the engineering program. Implications for research and practice are provided.