2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

"Measure Twice, Cut Once" and other Disciplinary Barriers to Recognizing Excellence in Engineering Education Research

Presented at Liberal Education/Engineering & Society Division (LEES) Technical Session 1

This paper began as a request for advice about how to navigate the tenure and promotion (T&P) process as an engineering education researcher (EER) and transformed into a Reflective Thematic Analysis (Braun et al., 2022) of five institutionally contextualized EER narratives. Together, our five stories make EER work visible as research to those responsible for our job security and advancement. Our analysis of these experiences is rooted in four key concepts: (1) Lave and Wenger’s (1991) situated learning in a community of practice, (2) Gouldner’s (1957) analysis of academics’ latent social roles, (3) Riley’s (2017) critique of academic rigor as a marker of excellence, and (4) Rottmann et al.’s (2023) notion of proud moments as a strategy for grounding excellence in our lived experiences. The overarching story emerging from our analysis involves EER scholars on the periphery of traditional engineering norms who nevertheless fight to remain locally relevant, carving out space for our emerging field and the next generation. We conclude with practical strategies for early career EER researchers navigating the T&P process and for T&P chairs and reviewers assessing the quality of EER research portfolios.

Authors

Dr. Cindy Rottmann http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3291-095X University of Toronto [biography]

Cindy Rottmann is an Assistant Professor of Engineering Education and Director of the Collaborative Specialization in Engineering Education at the University of Toronto. Her research interests include engineering ethics, equity, leadership, and policy in university and workplace settings.
Dr. Cynthia J. Finelli http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9148-1492 University of Michigan [biography]

Dr. Cindy Finelli is the Arthur F. Thurnau Professor and David C. Munson, Jr. Professor of Engineering at the University of Michigan, where she also serves as a professor of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science and a professor of Education. She was the founding director and graduate chair of the Engineering Education Research Program for ten years, and previously served as founding director of the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching in Engineering for twelve years. Her research focuses on advancing faculty adoption of evidence-based instruction, supporting students with neurodiversities, and promoting social responsibility through engineering coursework. Professor Finelli is a Fellow of both the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), and has held editorial roles with the Journal of Engineering Education, the European Journal of Engineering Education, and IEEE Transactions on Education.
Dr. Donna M Riley http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0319-9583 University of New Mexico [biography]

Donna Riley is Jim and Ellen King Dean of Engineering and Computing, and Professor of Civil, Environmental, and Construction Engineering at the University of New Mexico.
Dr. Justin L Hess http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1210-9535 Purdue University – West Lafayette (College of Engineering) [biography]

Dr. Justin L Hess is an assistant professor in the School of Engineering Education at Purdue University. Dr. Hess's research interests include exploring empathy's functional role in engineering and design; advancing the state of the art of engineering.
Dr. Jillian Seniuk Cicek http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3349-9704 University of Manitoba [biography]

Dr. Jillian Seniuk Cicek is an Assistant Professor in the Centre for Engineering Professional Practice and Engineering Education at the University of Manitoba, in Winnipeg, Canada. She teaches technical communication, engineering education research, and c

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 21, 2026, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 24, 2026

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