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A Social Science Research Agenda for Engineering Practice

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Engineering, Social Sciences, and the Humanities

Part of the book series: Philosophy of Engineering and Technology ((POET,volume 42))

Abstract

While emerging literature on engineering practice is gradually improving our understanding of workplace performances, little has been written on how the social culture that hosts an enterprise influences engineering practices within it. Research has identified four significant engineering practice weaknesses that are possibly associated with social culture and education gaps. (1) Lack of understanding by engineers on value creation, a possible cause for slowing productivity growth evident since 2007, (2) disappointing project delivery performances by engineers, (3) inappropriate expectations, values and work habits that limit the workplace performances of many early-career engineers, and (4) culture in some low-income countries seems to impose performance barriers for engineers. Social science and humanities research could reveal insights that might enable interventions to alleviate these engineering practice weaknesses. The chapter presents evidence showing how South Asian culture influences engineering practice and offers suggestions for social science and humanities scholars seeking rewarding research opportunities.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Pseudonyms are used throughout.

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Acknowledgements

Esther Matemba, Abisola Kusimo, Carlos Augusto Sanchez Gomez, Russell Korte and Bill Williams all contributed helpful ideas, comments and suggestions that helped develop ideas in this chapter. Thanks are also due to former colleagues, students and so many engineers in several countries who willingly gave their time to share their experiences and discuss ideas emerging from our many research projects. My wife’s family graciously welcomed me to Pakistan where seemingly contradictory observations stimulated the original research on engineering practice.

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None declared.

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  1. The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia

    James P. Trevelyan

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  1. Department of Development and Planning, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark

    Steen Hyldgaard Christensen

  2. VIA University College, Aarhus, Denmark

    Anders Buch

  3. School of Multidisciplinary Technologies Technological University Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

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  4. Lille University, Lille, France

    Christelle Didier

  5. Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO, USA

    Carl Mitcham

  6. Technological University Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    Mike Murphy

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Trevelyan, J.P. (2022). A Social Science Research Agenda for Engineering Practice. In: Christensen, S.H., Buch, A., Conlon, E., Didier, C., Mitcham, C., Murphy, M. (eds) Engineering, Social Sciences, and the Humanities. Philosophy of Engineering and Technology, vol 42. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-11601-8_13

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