Have you worked in humanitarian engineering, or are you interested in working in that field some day? If so, you are invited to participate in a study by researchers at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee (USA). Funded by a grant from the US National Science Foundation (NSF Award #2024525), the study is investigating the professional formation of students and professionals involved in humanitarian engineering projects.
Those who have not participated in humanitarian engineering projects in the past are invited to complete the survey alongside those who have participated. As engineers interested in humanitarian work and global development, your input can contribute to the research. As Dr. Kirsten Dodson, who leads the research, writes to E4C by email:
“We are studying the impact of humanitarian engineering projects on student professional formation and views of diversity, equity, and inclusion. The work was inspired from my own experiences with humanitarian engineering projects and how those impacted my life and views of the world as well as some similar experiences of fellow students and alumni.
“The research builds on prior work in the field which has shown that: (1) humanitarian engineering projects or service-learning in engineering has a positive impact on students’ technical and professional skills and (2) women and other underrepresented groups in engineering still encounter barriers and challenges in the field that have persisted despite efforts to increase diversity.
“My hypothesis is that students who are involved in humanitarian engineering projects experience a shift in their views to better embrace diversity and go on to become more inclusive and equitable engineers in the workplace.
“We are currently surveying students, alumni, and engineering professionals using two separate validated instruments and a few open-ended questions before we move on to interviews with the same groups, building on the data from the surveys. Our hope is to build a model which describes this professional formation and the impacts on humanitarian engineering projects on the students that can be provided to other engineering programs.
“We recently presented our work at the ASEE 2021 annual conference in July as well as at the Engineering Ministries International conference this past weekend.”
Interested? Please complete the following survey.
By completing the survey, you will automatically be entered to win a $100 gift card. The survey should take about 15-20 minutes to complete and you will need the password HEP2021! on the first page of the survey linked here: Humanitarian Engineering Impacts.
Your participation in the study may provide researchers with opportunities to improve engineering curricula and affect change in the field of engineering.
If you have questions, please contact Dr. Kirsten Dodson at kirsten.dodson@lipscomb.edu or (615) 966-1333.
