2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This WIP paper intends to supplement our current understanding of political awareness and ethical disengagement among engineering undergraduates. As an integral part of the production of globally-sold technology and weaponry [1-6], engineers in the United States need to have an active and informed interest for global public welfare as well as the political applications of their work [7]. Part of developing this informed interest is supposed to occur as they get their bachelor’s degree, as ABET expects graduates to be able to “recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering situations” (Criterion 3: Student Outcomes) and make decisions that give weight to the global and societal impact of their work [8]. In spite of this effort, some engineering students shoo this responsibility, recognizing that unethical situations and practices exist in industry but choosing to write them off as a necessary or justifiable part of the field [9]. What’s more, the importance engineering students place on public welfare in general is seen to decline as they progress through their undergraduate education [10].

This study seeks to build off of these latter two findings in an attempt to further improve the characterization of ethical and political disengagement among engineering students. Through a longitudinal mixed-methods survey given to engineering students at multiple California State University (CSU) campuses, which serve primarily working class students and Students of Color, this study will quantitatively chart how student perspectives on public welfare change over the course of their undergraduate degrees–and how those responses compare to existing data from universities primarily serving wealthy and white students. This study’s survey will also employ qualitative items to gauge student perceptions on the presence of military contractor companies on their campus, particularly with respect to how this presence influences their education and goals.