Some of the fastest growing economies, educational systems, and expansion of new ideas have been emerging from Asian countries. To be honest, everything that we buy now comes from an Asian country and is shipped to the United States. Much of their infrastructure is being rebuilt so that they can use the land available to it’s highest potential. The only way to get the highest potential out of the small amount of land available to them, is to use highly skilled engineers that are able to compete amongst others all around the world. This type of skill requires a high status educational system and that is what I plan to study more in depth. My project will be the types of education needed in Asia to become an engineer, what being an engineer means, and how race and social status effect the possibilities of becoming an engineer.
I have read some studies informing me that many of the Asian countries do not have a formal style of engineering accreditation, yet many are moving in the direction of a more formalized western style education. I would like to find out why this is and the specific steps that Asia is taking in this new move. For China specifically, the growth of education for engineering is linked specifically with the growth of China’s economy. Another article claimed that China has the largest amount of students graduating from college than any other country in the world. My interest is in the number of students that graduate from engineering fields. Korea for example is trying to create accredited programs that allow for the students who graduate to become global competitors in the engineering world rather than specifying in techniques that apply only to Korea.
Engineering accreditation within all of the Asian countries seemed to differ slightly depending on many different factors. I believe that this differentiation is due to how education is dealt with in the Asian cultures. In my international political economy class, I learned that children’s education is the most prioritized thing of the family/house in Japan and China. The mother stays home to learn the information that their children are learning so that when the child comes home from school, the mother can then teach their children even more. Privatized after school programs were also put into place that help prepare students at age 5 for a test that will eventually be take at the age of 17. This test then is the ultimate deciding factor of what college they will attend and more importantly the life they they will lead. Another important factor to the level of education for engineering in Asian countries is the religion that the country associates itself with. Some countries may relate their religious ideas to Buddhism or Hinduism. More interestingly is the close connections with religion and political involvement. Many of these countries are regulated by the government who then have the final say in what is accepted and what is not in education. In some countries education may be on lock down by the government, while others lack in any sort of structure. I believe that all of these subjects have very strong impacts on the way Asian Engineering education is formed and how it has been shaped over time. I plan on researching how these cultural and social topics impact engineering education in more depth to grasp a deeper understanding of the engineering education system put into place in Asia.
I too have a strong interest in the infrastructure of Asian engineering. Economies such as India, China and Japan are growing at such an accelerated rate and it would be an interesting project to see not only how this is possible on an engineering level but also how it compares to the other leading economies of the world and those we have studied. You bring up an interesting point in your brief analysis of the stay-at-home mothers in Japan and China. This model of education is very unique and it would be worthwhile to investigate how this strong family interaction surrounding school plays a role in the status of engineering (both to the society as well as the children that may potentially become engineers). One thing that I did not even consider, and I am glad you brought it up, is engineering in countries outside of Japan and China. The news is constantly bombarding us with news from China and Japan but rarely about any of the surrounding Asian countries aside from the occasional story on uneasy relations between North and South Korea (which is not new). Overall, I think your research project has amazing potential and it looks like it will be very relevant and a great contrast to what we have been currently studying. Some questions I have include:
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think the American view of engineering is in Asian countries?
You mentioned Westernization in these Asian countries. In what ways will these Asian countries preserve their own views on engineering?
What advantages/disadvantages does the Asian model of engineering have over British/French/American models?
In what ways have Asian engineering methods influenced European and American engineers?
This is a great topic to explore. It will be interesting to see what you discover with it. As Tyler said, I also like that you are focusing on countries outside of japan and china, because there is so much more to asia as a continent than just those two. I do wonder, however, how you'll be able to go in depth on a report of so many countries and potentially so many different styles. Another consideration I have is something you touched on briefly, but i think could be a valuable issue to check out is the increasing western influence on asian engineering due to globalization as well as outsourcing from many american companies. As far as outsourcing goes, and I don't know how much you are focusing on it, or how large a part of their economy outsourcing is, but industrial engineering would seem to play a key role in the efficiency of the system. I'm sure you will have no difficulties finding a bunch of interesting things about asian enginneering and it'll be fun to learn it all.
ReplyDeleteAlana, I am excited about your research topic. Like Tanner, I am a bit concerned about the breadth of your research program for the purposes of this assignment, however - although I love the idea of comparative analysis and think that we can learn so much through it. I wonder if you might want to select 2-3 countries only if you wish to do comparative analysis?
ReplyDeleteI think the question of the role of religion is an interesting one. Remind me to send you some files to this effect, but some scholars have looked at how people in Japan conceptualize religions and drawn parallels with the "Japanese approach" to western technology during Japan's period of "modernization." So, in Japan, many people participate in the religious spiritual practices of very different religions - Buddhism, Shintoism, Confucianism, Christianity. From a U.S. perspective, we might see this as a conflict (or perhaps the cause of an existential crisis). However, this is perfectly normal in Japan - different religions are drawn upon in different circumstances as one moves through life. These scholars tend to label this as very "utilitarian" - and some of them have argued that as Japan was "becoming modern" in the 2nd half of the 19th century, the Japanese leaders and technical experts displayed this same type of "pick and choose" approach - so the idea here is that you could take what you like from engineering education in the U.S., Britain, Germany, France (etc.) but you do not need to adopt the whole philosophical framework to do so.
You might in your paper, for example, look to see if this pattern extends beyond Japan, and what this might tell us about current debates about modernity (and is there only way to "become developed"?). (This would also link your paper to Mandy & Vanessa's projects.)
Another focus might look at how Asian countries are conceptualizing "what it means to be a global engineer" - we have looked at US/European frameworks for "global engineering" - is there a difference?
Lots of great topics - I look forward to seeing what you pick.
Oh - I am also really excited about your attention to how geography matters in the development of engineering education and practice!
ReplyDelete