Ever Changing Viewpoints. Reading Reaction #3

One thing I found very interesting in the article Educating the Engineer of 2020, was the thought about a Bachelor’s of Science in Engineering being considered an “‘engineer in training’ degree” and the Master of Science would be a “professional” degree in engineering. This is interesting to read in a structured plan for what Engineering Education should become because as we have seen in many of the articles over the quarter, as we go up in the education-hierarchy system, we see fewer women and people of color in the educational track for higher learning in the sciences, and it is those degrees that will elevate people to achieve ‘professional’ status. Without these Masters degrees, this large group of people is again being marginalized, even though they were able to achieve a Bachelors’ of Science. As Hess notes in the concluding notes of the Chapter 9 titled Conclusions: Science, Technology, and Multicultural Education,
“postsecondary science and technology education is an important pressure point because it is a gatekeeper to many highly paid professions. As I have shown in this book, science and technology are also sites for the reproduction of an ideology that values some groups and cultures over others” (Hess, page 3).
On another focus of the readings, one thing that has recently been bothering me about some of the engineering students in the program here at Cal Poly is the resistance to general education. The classes are seen as a ‘waste of time’ and classes that won’t actually affect their lives. However, we see that in the article The Engineer of 2020, “It is appropriate that engineers are educated to understand and appreciate history, philosophy, culture, and the arts, along with the creative elements of all of these disciplines”(Chapter 3: Aspirations for the Engineer of 2020, The Engineer of 2010). This idea is drastically different from the mindset of what many people believe will help them at the present, and the classes graduating in the five years before and after this graduation year will be considered the ‘Engineers of 2020’—who many of which do not appreciate these fields of study. After studying what some of the original and most influential philosophers thought of life and the sciences, it is interesting to see the change from the high value of a well rounded, knowledgeable person, to the focus of how good you are at seeing the problem and solving it in the most efficient manner. The origins of the basis of the science and mathematical systems we use today were produced by people who were highly knowledgeable of many different aspects of education- they were often collectively philosophers, physicists, mathematicians, scientists, and inventors. Typically the people who are considered most influential today are those that are highly specialized in one particular subject. Hess also touches on this need in the article published in 1995, stating that:
“an initial strategy is to begin to think about integrating a social science or humanities requirement into the science and engineering major in a manner that goes beyond standard distribution requirements to take a certain number of humanities and social science courses. For example, majors in technical fields could be required to take a course on the historical, social, cultural, or ethical aspects of biology, engineering, or one of the sciences” (Hess, page 3).
The ideas that engineering can improve life is a great driving force for why I am still involved in the field, and every day I see ways, that eventually with my training, I will change lives. I think that the article The Engineer of 2020 has a number of inspiring ambitions for the world and for engineering’s place in society. As it says,
“Engineering, through its role in the creation and implementation of technology, has been a key force in the improvement of our economic well-being, health, and quality of life. Three hundred years ago the average life span was 37 years, the primary effort of the majority of humans was focused on provisioning their tables, and the threat of sudden demise due to disease was a lurking reality (Kagan et al., 2001). Today, human life expectancy is approaching 80 years in many parts of the world as fundamental advances in medicine and technology have greatly suppressed the occurrence of and mortality rates for previously fatal diseases and the efforts of humankind are focused largely on enhanced quality of life (Central Intelligence Agency, 2001)” (Chapter 3: Aspirations for the Engineer of 2020, The Engineer of 2020).
This excerpt alone speaks to the wonders that engineering provides for a society, and it refreshes and reminds us of the human aspect and impact engineering has. I like the thought that things will get better, and though we always have to keep in mind the ideas for the need of better, more well rounded, outside the box ideas, we know that we are slowly getting there.