2025 Collaborative Network for Engineering & Computing Diversity (CoNECD)

Keywords: Faculty, Engineering

This is a work-in-progress (WIP) paper. With the increasing focus on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice (DEIJ) in engineering education and the critical role of faculty in shaping students' experiences, outcomes, and educational environments, it is essential to examine the various factors influencing faculty pedagogical decisions regarding DEIJ content in curricula. Although integrating DEIJ is positioned as vital for transformative organizational, institutional, and cultural change across engineering, the inclusion of DEIJ-focused content into curricula poses a pedagogical challenge for faculty due to various contextual factors that influence their decision-making process. These factors can emerge from state-level policies (e.g., Texas restriction of DEI initiatives), institutional and departmental culture, disciplinary norms, student resistance, job responsibilities, and personal beliefs regarding DEIJ. Moreover, educational norms and traditions can perpetuate white interests and white supremacy, particularly when crucial sociohistorical contexts (e.g., slavery, civil rights, immigration) go overlooked in faculty pedagogical practices. Understanding how these influences translate into classroom practices is crucial for advancing DEIJ in engineering education.

This WIP research employs a Comparative Case Study (CCS) to examine the institutional, disciplinary, and personal influences shaping faculty pedagogical decisions regarding DEIJ in engineering. The study aims to identify the mechanisms by which these influences manifest in curricular and pedagogical decisions. To achieve this, qualitative methods such as semi-structured interviews with engineering faculty and analysis of instructor- and institutional-level documents (e.g., teaching statements, university reports) are used. The faculty participants were recruited through purposeful, convenience, and snowball sampling methods, resulting in a final sample of 33 faculty from 14 states representing public and private institutions, including land grants and Hispanic-serving institutions. These faculty members span various disciplines, ranks, and tracks (e.g., teaching, tenure track). The semi-structured interviews explored their conceptions of DEIJ, opportunities for integrating DEIJ in teaching, pedagogical approaches, institutional and disciplinary influences, and the impact of recent sociohistorical events (e.g., COVID-19, Black Lives Matter).

This study draws on the Academic Plan Model (APM) and the White Racial Consciousness/Faculty Behavior Model (WRC/FB) to: (a) examine how academic strategies affect instructional choices, considering factors like content knowledge, social contexts, teaching experience, and institutional culture, and (b) explores how faculty's racial consciousness influences their equity-oriented pedagogical practices. These frameworks allow the CCS to consider structural elements influencing pedagogical choices and assess how sociocultural contexts shape individual perspectives. While data analysis for this CCS is ongoing, preliminary review, reflection, and immersion of the data indicate an array of social, cultural, political, and academic contexts and influences, including: (a) DEIJ conceptions and perspectives; (b) professional and personal experiences (e.g., DEIJ research, training and teaching); (c) emerging cases and groups (i.e., department heads/admin, instructional resources, faculty opportunity structures); (d) pedagogical beliefs and practices (e.g., Universal design learning); and (e) institutional factors (e.g., institutional diversity, mission, and existing DEI initiatives) and processes (e.g., faculty governance structures, accreditation). We will discuss implications for research on engineering faculty pedagogies and experiences, DEIJ curricular initiatives, and policies in engineering education.