Beyond Diversity
When teaching incorporates cultural context, students better understand.
By James Holly Jr. and Homero Murzi
The ASEE Commission on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, with support from the ASEE Board of Directors, has designated the Society year 2021–2022 as the Year of Impact on Racial Equity (YIRE). Throughout the year, Prism will feature a series of articles about the YIRE activities and outcomes, as well as other thought-provoking content.
In the push to expand diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in engineering programs, institutions have largely focused on recruiting traditionally marginalized students. They’ve placed less emphasis on making engineering classrooms more welcoming. Admission initiatives excite some minoritized students about their potential social impact in pursuing engineering, but when they begin their courses, they often don’t feel that their perspectives are valued or reflected in the lessons presented. Culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) is one way to change this pattern.
CRP explicitly emphasizes what is otherwise known as good teaching practice, considering students’ prior knowledge as a starting point for education. Cultural intelligence and critique are deemed as important as academic learning. Herein lies the central benefit of CRP for engineering education: allowing new ways of teaching engineering shaped by a broader array of cultures.
CRP’s aim is for all students to broaden their understanding of how they know what they know. In engineering education, this can be done by making connections between technical knowledge, professional applications, and societal implications. Incorporating discussions of engineering decisions’ impact on people and society into classroom practices also allows space to examine racial diversity in engineering, both past and present.
Historically, engineering knowledge has been viewed as objective, neglecting the ways faculty and students’ identities influence how they teach and learn. This obscures the fact that our cultural background determines which knowledge and skills we prioritize in engineering education. If you grow up in a place where environmental racism is common, for example, your cultural experience may predispose you to prioritize applying your technical knowledge to addressing social inequity over advancing free enterprise.
Sociopolitical context matters in CRP and should be explicit. For instance, engineers developing a recycling system to help manage solid waste in a rural Venezuelan community must take into account the families whose only source of income is the money they make by selling the trash to recycling companies. Engineering is powerful, and CRP encourages using knowledge traditions from culturally diverse people to solve contemporary human problems. Faculty can make use of research exploring Indigeneering and Black-centered design.
CRP is concerned with bringing forth a truly democratic and multicultural society, not just improved test scores. Faculty can enrich their teaching by recognizing the eminently social nature of the world engineers act upon and the complexity of their team members’ various identities when collaborating.
To begin to adopt CRP, first conduct a self-examination of your own values and beliefs within engineering. Ask questions like: How do my identity, culture, and lived experiences shape my understanding of engineering knowledge and my approach to teaching? For example, faculty with a disposition toward justice might frame engineering as a tool to help disadvantaged communities.
In addition, be willing to become acquainted with and learn from students. Using pre-semester surveys, ask students questions about their backgrounds and inquire about communication preferences or constraints when working in teams. Learn students’ names and consider beginning classes with music they’ve selected. Seek student feedback on the course (e.g., teaching format, pace, comprehension), and not just at the midway point and end of the semester.
CRP is not intended to be a prescriptive approach to teaching. It gives faculty great flexibility in determining how to apply its tenets in classrooms. This pedagogical approach can help you appreciate students’ diverse perspectives and view their culture as an asset to help them master engineering knowledge and practices.
James Holly Jr. is an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Michigan studying inequity in educational outcomes for Black engineering students. The research of Homero Murzi, an assistant professor of engineering education at Virginia Tech, focuses on the development of inclusive and culturally relevant pedagogical practices to enhance the assets that minoritized students bring into engineering.
Call for Board Candidates
The ASEE Nominating Committee, chaired by Immediate Past President Sheryl Sorby, requests member participation in nominating candidates for the 2023 ASEE Board election. Board positions to be nominated are: President-Elect; Vice President, External Relations; Chairs of Professional Interest Councils II and III; Chairs of Council of Sections for Zones II and III.
- All nominees must be individual members or institutional member representatives of ASEE at the time of nomination and must maintain ASEE membership during their term of office. Nominating Committee members are not eligible for nomination.
- Candidates for President-Elect and for Vice President of External Relations must be active members who have served or are serving on the Board of Directors. Because ASEE is a Department of Defense contractor, candidates for President-Elect must currently be US citizens and undergo a security clearance. Candidates for Chairs of Council of Sections for Zones II and III will be selected by the members of their respective sections, as the ASEE Constitution stipulates.
- Each proposed candidate for a Society-wide office should submit a first-person biographical sketch of fewer than 400 words that documents career contributions, ASEE offices held, awards and recognitions received, and educational background. Include comments on leadership qualities, ability to collaborate with others to achieve objectives, and willingness to serve if elected. Self-nominations are accepted. For nominations for the office of President-Elect, please include a statement summarizing why you think your nominee is a good candidate for the position. A listing of members who meet constitutional eligibility requirements for the offices of President-Elect and Vice President, External Relations is available from the executive director’s office at ASEE headquarters.