Award Abstract # 2024301
Collaborative Research: Early Career Engineers' Views of Ethics and Social Responsibility: Trends, Influences, and Contexts

NSF Org: SMA
SBE Office of Multidisciplinary Activities
Recipient: PURDUE UNIVERSITY
Initial Amendment Date: August 24, 2020
Latest Amendment Date: October 13, 2020
Award Number: 2024301
Award Instrument: Standard Grant
Program Manager: Jason D. Borenstein
jborenst@nsf.gov
 (703)292-4207
SMA
 SBE Office of Multidisciplinary Activities
SBE
 Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences
Start Date: August 15, 2020
End Date: July 31, 2025 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount: $174,983.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date: $174,983.00
Funds Obligated to Date: FY 2020 = $174,983.00
History of Investigator:
  • Brent Jesiek (Principal Investigator)
  • Carla Zoltowski (Co-Principal Investigator)
Recipient Sponsored Research Office: Purdue University
2550 NORTHWESTERN AVE # 1100
WEST LAFAYETTE
IN  US  47906-1332
(765)494-1055
Sponsor Congressional District: 04
Primary Place of Performance: Purdue University
IN  US  47907-2045
Primary Place of Performance
Congressional District:
04
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): YRXVL4JYCEF5
Parent UEI: YRXVL4JYCEF5
NSF Program(s): ER2-Ethical & Responsible Res
Primary Program Source: 01002021DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
Program Reference Code(s):
Program Element Code(s): 129Y00
Award Agency Code: 4900
Fund Agency Code: 4900
Assistance Listing Number(s): 47.075

ABSTRACT

Collaborative Proposal: Early Career Engineers' Views of Ethics and Social Responsibility: Trends, Influences, and Contexts
Public Abstract


Responding to frequent concerns about a lack of attention to ethics in engineering education and professional practice, a variety of formal course-based interventions and informal or extracurricular programs have been created and assessed to improve the social and ethical commitments of engineering graduates. Additionally, many employers offer or require training in ethics, compliance, and related topics. Most prior research into the impacts of such experiences has focused on engineering students, especially undergraduates. There have been very few studies that have tracked these students as they enter the workforce in order to study the impacts of these experiences early in their careers.
This project explores how early career engineers? perceptions of ethics and social responsibility change in the transition from undergraduate engineering degree programs to the workplace (or graduate studies) and how those perceptions are shaped or influenced. It also asks how those perceptions vary depending on an individual?s engineering discipline, background, and current professional setting.
Specific priority is given to investigating differences in perceptions and experiences among underrepresented groups. In addition to contributing to the literature and impacting practices in engineering education and professional ethics, the findings from this project have implications for workforce development by revealing how employers can better align onboarding programs, professional development opportunities, and organizational climate with the views and perceptions of young professionals.

This study uses both survey (quantitative) and interview (qualitative) research methods. Data is being gathered in two phases. The first study phase will begin by surveying and interviewing participants from a prior study who are now early career professionals and/or pursuing graduate degrees. The responses of participants in these surveys and interviews can be compared to their prior responses as engineering students, making visible how their perceptions have changed over time and across the transition from school to professional practice. In the second phase of the study, a new group of participants will be surveyed and interviewed, which will allow for a larger and more diverse participant pool. Appropriate statistical techniques will be used to investigate longitudinal changes and group-level results in the survey data set, while thematic and phenomenographic approaches will be used to analyze the interview data. This analysis will shed light on how young career engineers? perceptions of social and ethical responsibility are shaped by their experiences in their undergraduate studies and their current contexts.

This proposal was funded through the ER2 program by the CISE directorate.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH

Note:  When clicking on a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) number, you will be taken to an external site maintained by the publisher. Some full text articles may not yet be available without a charge during the embargo (administrative interval).

Some links on this page may take you to non-federal websites. Their policies may differ from this site.

(Showing: 1 - 10 of 12)
Carter, Darius G and Claussen, Stephanie "Examining the Characteristics and Traits of Young Engineers Moral Exemplars" , 2024 Citation Details
Claussen, S. and Howland, S. J. and Nittala, S. and Jesiek, B. K. and Zoltowski, C. B. "Longitudinal Qualitative Case Study of One Engineering Students Perceptions of Ethics and Social Responsibility: Corvins Story" Proceedings of the 2021 American Society of Engineering Education Virtual Annual Conference , 2021 Citation Details
Claussen, S. and Jesiek, B. K. and Zoltowski, C. B. and Howland, S. "Early Career Engineers Views of Ethics and Social Responsibility: Study Overview" Proceedings of the 2021 American Society of Engineering Education Virtual Annual Conference , 2021 Citation Details
Claussen, Stephanie A and Stepback, Lazlo and Jesiek, Brent K and Zoltowski, Carla B and Howland, Shiloh James "Using Reflexive Principlism to Investigate Longitudinal Changes in Engineering Students Perceptions of Ethics" Studies in Engineering Education , v.5 , 2024 https://doi.org/10.21061/see.115 Citation Details
Howland, Shiloh James and Claussen, Stephanie and Jesiek, Brent K. and Zoltowski, Carla B. "Influences on U.S. undergraduate engineering students perceptions of ethics and social responsibility: findings from a longitudinal study" Australasian Journal of Engineering Education , v.27 , 2022 https://doi.org/10.1080/22054952.2022.2154009 Citation Details
Howland, Shiloh James and Jesiek, Brent K. and Claussen, Stephanie and Zoltowski, Carla B. "Measures of Ethics and Social Responsibility Among Undergraduate Engineering Students: Findings from a Longitudinal Study" Science and Engineering Ethics , v.30 , 2024 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-024-00462-8 Citation Details
Howland, Shiloh James and Kim, Dayoung and Jesiek, Brent K. "Senior Engineering Students Reflection on Their Learning of Ethics and Morality: A Qualitative Investigation of Influences and Lessons Learned" International Journal of Ethics Education , v.7 , 2022 https://doi.org/10.1007/s40889-022-00139-5 Citation Details
Jesiek, B. and Claussen, S. and Kim, D. and Stepback, L. and Zoltowski, C. B. "Exploring Perceptions of Ethics and Social Responsibility Among Engineering Students and Professionals: Research Highlights and Implications for the Field" ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , 2022 Citation Details
Kim, D. and Howland, S. J. and Jesiek, B. K. "Encountering Engineering Ethics in the Workplace: Stories from the Trenches" Proceedings of the 2021 American Society of Engineering Education Virtual Annual Conference , 2021 Citation Details
Kim, Dayoung and Jesiek, Brent K "Political ideologies and moral foundations of engineering professionals in the United States" Technology in Society , v.75 , 2023 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2023.102379 Citation Details
Stepback, L. and Hwang, M. H. and Claussen, S. and Leonardo, Y. "User vs. Engineer: Student Perceptions of Responsibility in Social Media" ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , 2023 Citation Details
(Showing: 1 - 10 of 12)

Please report errors in award information by writing to: awardsearch@nsf.gov.

Print this page

Back to Top of page