2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

As the discourse on the diversity of the STEM workforce continues, it becomes prudent to enrich the discussion with contexts where this diversity substantially impacts public affairs. We explore the political, economic, cultural and moral foundations of the research and engineering of crash test dummy models in the automotive industry. The research question underlying this work in-progress is: how does diversity in STEM research and engineering influence public affairs in the context of safety in the automotive industry? Automotive safety for years has been known to rely on a crash test dummy models created in the 1950s that are modeled after the average male. This resulted in a significant gap in balanced representation in vehicle safety data acquired over the years. We focus on this technology’s governance and regulation within the United States. Our research focuses primarily on the development and implementation of a female crash test dummy, which currently has the dimensions of 4’11’’ and weighs 108 pounds, while the average American female is 5’4’’ and 170 pounds. This project explores the meaningful representation in crash testing to improve safety outcomes for all occupants, and has policy implications on pregnant women, people at different ages, people with disabilities, children and infant. We investigate, from a variety of perspectives, the various ways that transforming forces influenced decisions in this area. We explore how both the engineering and the political communities make priorities, develop organization and institutionalize standardization of technological innovation in this field. We discuss the historical development of the technology with a focus on the scientific, socio-economic, institutional and cultural factors, and the interactions between these factors, that have influenced the technology’s evolution, with special attention to the role of engineering education up to the present. We share our on-going work to analyze common injuries and the vehicle response to a female anatomy in comparison to a male, which, ultimately, will allow us to pinpoint critical changes required to better make the automotive industry safer, with results transcending to other modes of transportation. We pay special attention to the impact that diverse representation in STEM education, and consequently the workforce, brings to the discourse on the topic. Our findings will advocate for a future that is safer for public. Advocating for a more inclusive approach to crash testing, and urging diverse bodies that better reflect real-world population variability, start in the STEM education communities.