Engineering Methodologies and Their Origins

The importance of becoming a global engineer could not be more emphasized than in the distinct differences found between American and Japanese engineers. The Japanese engineering method is highly based on an interest in success of the group rather than the success of the individual, as seen in the American model of engineering. What makes this so interesting to me is the motivational reasons that allow these unique methods of engineering to be successful. This is very intriguing because, as an engineer, I have learned we are looking at a very narrow scope of how engineering should be conducted. The following excerpt (found in the recommended reading section) clearly shows the reality of the different engineering methodologies,

“Such treatment is unthinkable for Americans. Some years ago I used a film from JETRO entitles “A Day in the Life of a Japanese Engineer.” In several scences, the “engineer,” explicitly identified as a college graduate, is seen helping production line workers repair or adjust equiment. He gets dirty and greasy with the men on the production line. A few students always reacted to this by questioning the authenticity of the film. Assurances to the contrary notwithstanding, they found such scene hard to believe.
Their expectations of an “engineering education” may be gleaned from a float in the Picnic Day Parade at U.C.-Davis a few years ago. The float featured a Mercedes-Benz. Stage money $100 bills had been inserted in the wheel covers. Engineering students in formal dress stood around the Mercedez and sipped champagne (more likely Budweiser). A sign on the side of the float said “Hard Work and Study Pays.” Even allowing for a certain amount of tongue-in-cheek humor, no survey of attitudes is needed to confirm the U.S. student perception that engineering is a route to high pay, not the factory floor.”

After reading this excerpt I found this very intriguing from the perspective of an engineering major in college. This particular section is very similar to my own experiences as an engineering major myself. Before picking my intended major in high school I was told by my friends, family and counselor that becoming an engineer would mean job security, prestige and most importantly (to them) a generous paycheck. This system of choosing engineering shifts the emphasis and motivatian to the individual and selfish gains rather than taking into account the group or society as a whole. From my experiences in high school and at this university the example above couldn’t be more true. We, the students, are constantly bombarded with statistics and figures of how much money each engineering major makes after leaving college and how important it is to the purpose of our college degree and we have even discussed this in ES 410. I have yet to read anything about the importance of contributing to society as one of the dominant images of attaining an engineering degree (or any degree for that matter) as seen in many of the readings about Japanese engineers.

At first, I thought both methods of engineering would work in the U.S. or Japan but after further readings and consideration at this point in time or the near future I don’t think it would be a possibility. The Japanese and U.S. children as a whole, and I am speaking generally for the sake of argument, are raised with a different mentality which translates to this difference in engineering ideologies. Every week the ICEX group volunteers at a nearby elementary school to teach robotics to 2nd graders to attempt to gain an early interest in engineering and specifically robotics. The second purpose and probably the most important is to get females and minorities involved in engineering before stereotypes set in and negatively influence them to stray from engineering. Each week we bring simple robots for them to play with and then hold a competition at the end of the class period. What I noticed as an outsider looking in was when a child won they would announce that they in fact were the winner or boast about beating someone else. This may seem very normal but that is not the case from what I have seen in Japanese sports. At a very young age Japanese baseball players are taught to love the sport from a group perspective (including both teams). When the game is over both teams are cheered for equally and it is common to not even remember the final score because there isn’t an emphasis on “winning” in the sense of who scored the most. The emphasis is on the sport and teams as a group rather than on the individual. A statement from another article articulates this point further,

“... the most important virtue is the striving for mutual harmony. In the company, the Japanese do not consider themselves as individuals but rather as a tiny part of a whole social system and they are very eager to look after the professional and personal duties that lead to the fulfilment of a perfect harmony. Defining themselves as part of a group does not make them feel unimportant, but rather comfortable and sheltered.”

I believe these ideals are what transfer to the dominant images of what it means to be an engineer in the U.S. and Japan. By learning about the Japanese engineering methodology and hierarchy, it is clear there is more than one way to create a system of successful engineers.My biggest question after reading this article still remains: Why are we not learning about this in our engineering classes (from a curriculum perspective)?