2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Engineering education and The State: Teaching tolerance for ambiguity as an act of resistance

Presented at Liberal Education/Engineering & Society Division (LEES) Technical Session 7

Recent state-level legislative mandates restricting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives have introduced significant constraints on higher education, particularly within public institutions. While often framed as administrative or budgetary adjustments, these policies directly impact the pedagogical frameworks used to develop essential engineering competencies. This Work in Progress (WIP) paper explores the intersection of political interference and the development of "tolerance for ambiguity"—a cognitive capacity foundational to navigating uncertainty, incomplete information, and competing stakeholder interests in professional engineering practice.

The study utilizes an anonymous survey distributed to engineering faculty across 74 institutions in 24 states to assess how shifting political climates influence teaching practices, research agendas, and professional autonomy. Grounded in the understanding that DEI-related educational practices foster cognitive complexity and perspective-taking, the research examines whether the restriction of these practices constitutes a threat to engineering formation and accreditation standards.

Preliminary findings indicate a significant consensus (87%) among respondents regarding the critical importance of tolerance for ambiguity in engineering. However, data also reveal a pedagogical gap, with 14% of faculty reporting that this skill is not explicitly taught in their programs. Furthermore, early qualitative and quantitative analysis highlights that political pressures are manifesting most acutely through material and infrastructural disruptions, including the interruption of research funding and the dissolution of established support systems. This paper concludes by discussing the emerging tensions between state mandates and the professional obligation to prepare engineers for sociotechnical complexity, positioning the intentional teaching of ambiguity as a necessary act of professional and pedagogical resilience.

Authors

Dr. Joanna Burchfield http://orcid.org/https://0000-0002-6284-0932 University of South Florida [biography]

Dr. Joanna Burchfield, is a Communication professor for the College of Engineering at the University of South Florida where she leads a college-wide initiative to vertically integrate communication education into core engineering courses. She has 18 years of experience in academic research, higher education instruction, and course design, and is guided by a teaching philosophy founded on growth mindset and systems thinking. Dr. Burchfield’s current research focuses on STEM communication, student identity development, and cross-disciplinary communication rhetoric. She has presented her research at international, national, and regional communication and engineering conferences, and is co-editor and author of "Teaching Communication Across Disciplines for Professional Development, Civic Engagement, and Beyond."
Dr. Tomas Estrada Elizabethtown College [biography]

Dr. Tomas Estrada is an Associate Professor in the Department of Engineering and Physics at Elizabethtown College, in Elizabethtown, PA. He received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Universidad de Costa Rica in 2002 and his M.S. and Ph.D. (both in
Dr. Shannon M. Clancy http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2779-0746 Elizabethtown College [biography]

Dr. Shannon M. Clancy (she/they) is an Assistant Professor of Engineering at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania. She earned all of her degrees in Mechanical Engineering: B.S. from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), M.S. from the University of Michigan, and her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan (U-M). They also received an Engineering Education Research Certificate during their time at U-M.

Her research interests include front-end design practices, sociotechnical knowledge and skills, and queer student experiences in engineering. They use qualitative methods and fields across engineering design, psychology, learning sciences, education, and STEM education to dive deeply into these topics, understanding the how’s and why’s of engineers’ experiences, decision-making, and sharing their stories.

Dr. Clancy is motivated by their passion for and experiences with equity-minded teaching and holistic mentorship of students as people and professionals. She particularly enjoys intertwining engineering technical practices and social implications to prepare students to become socially responsible engineers. She seeks to reimagine who can be an engineer, what engineering is, and the impact engineering has on society for a more equitable world.
Dr. Juliane Mora [biography]

Juliane Mora, Ph.D. has taught communication across the curriculum in the humanities, sciences, engineering, and business for 15-years at five different institutions, from California to Florida. Her research interests are in communication pedagogy at the

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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