Learning to design for social justice in community‐engaged engineering

Abstract

Background: Community‐engaged learning initiatives in engineering often struggle to achieve equitable outcomes for community partners because students in such programs often possess a design‐for‐charity mindset, which is characterized by an uncritical desire to help and the design of solutions that address symptoms of inequity without meaningful community involvement. The paradigm of design‐for‐justice seeks more equitable outcomes by illuminating positions of power, leveraging community knowledge, facilitating community participation, and altering the structural causes of inequity. Purpose: Little is known about how to support students in developing a design‐for‐justice mindset. This work investigated how students in one particular community‐engaged engineering program with a social justice orientation learned to shift mindsets from charity toward justice. Method: I conducted a case study of a community‐engaged engineering learning project during a single academic term using participant observations and semi‐structured interviews of eight undergraduates with varying levels of project experience. I performed thematic analysis to identify learning processes students employed in making mindset shifts. Results: Students employed four primary learning processes in developing and deepening a design‐for‐justice mindset: (1) drawing upon prior experience with inequity; (2) connecting to course content; (3) imitating experienced team members; and (4) empathizing with community members. The three core elements of the program experience—introductory course, laboratory course, and field practicum—each fostered shifts along distinct mindset dimensions. Conclusion: This research offers insights into creating community‐engaged engineering learning experiences that may help students shift toward a design‐for‐justice mindset and has broader implications for how all engineering students might develop socio‐technical thinking skills.