ABSTRACT
This chapter is a collection of viewpoints about engineering education by authors from five nations – India, United States, South Africa, Estonia, and Ireland. The viewpoints bring into focus the historically global influences that have formed, and continue to shape, engineering and engineering education. Through a discussion of topics as diverse as engineering and engineering education during the colonial period and beyond in India, the entry of women into engineering programs in the United States, the continuing tension between “engineers” and “technicians” within South Africa, the teaching of ethics to engineers in Estonia during the last century, and the tension between focusing on accreditation and teaching for more in Ireland, the authors bring to light issues that are universal and continuing. The authors draw on their own work and discuss it in a larger national context in conjunction with global influences. The viewpoints are meant to serve both as a global and historical introduction to the field of engineering education and as context for reading other chapters in the handbook.
