Engineering Justice: Transforming Engineering Education and Practice: Jon A. Leydens and Juan C. Lucena [Book Review]
Abstract
This book posits that there is a lack of social justice coverage in today’s engineering curriculum. The authors’ fundamental premise is that, while some social aspects may be covered in engineering courses, the general approach to engineering subject matter presents only the technical details, not other aspects. The book examines how culture and other social issues are a part of engineering practice. The authors want to get educators thinking, as well as changing and making courses and programs more aware of cultural, political, and social issues. The authors assert that the social impacts of the engineering curriculum are hidden and generally ignored. The book opens an interesting discussion of social justice and engineering professionals. The underlying message is that professional engineers—and the engineering curricula being taught—are not emphasizing the inclusion of social justice within those programs. Current curricula include social justice as only a minor component in the training of engineers, with the technical aspects overriding social needs except in small doses. The book addresses a truly significant problem to society: Who bears the responsibility of ensuring that social injustice is addressed and corrected? The authors provide thoughts and insights, but the solution is very complex and cannot be solved with one book. Each person needs to accept the responsibility of correcting injustice where they can. Understanding the problem may still not provide a solution that prevents social injustice completely; it’s a start. Introducing a semester course on social justice is insufficient, but it may foster changes in other curricular offerings. Such introductions and changes will take time. Regarding limitations, it would have helped to make the case if the book did more to address potential naysayers. Professors in engineering who do not see the importance of the matter might claim that the engineering curriculum already meets accreditation requirements, and therefore, they might justify not making changes by saying that accreditation agencies must believe that social justice is being adequately covered.
- Journal
- IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
- Published
- 2020-03-01
- DOI
- 10.1109/tpc.2020.2965023
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