Cameron H. Fletcher – författare

Over the last two decades, colleges and universities in the United States have significantly increased the formal ethics instruction they provide in science and engineering. Today, science and engineering programs socialize students into the values of scientists and engineers as well as their obligations in the conduct of scientific research and in the practice of engineering.

Practical Guidance on Science and Engineering Ethics Education for Instructors and Administrators is the summary of a workshop convened in December 2012 to consider best practices for ethics education programs in science and engineering. The workshop focused on four key areas: goals and objectives for ethics instruction, instructional assessment, institutional and research cultures, and development of guidance checklists for instructors and administrators. Leading experts summarized and presented papers on current research knowledge in these areas. This report presents the edited papers and a summary of the discussions at the workshop.

Societies develop engineered systems to address or mediate climate-related problems, such as drought, sea-level rise or wildfire control; the mediation involves public trust, public engagement, and governance. In these efforts, societies also decide - intentionally or implicitly - questions of justice and sustainability, such as what areas will receive mediation measures, what types of measures will be used, and what levels and kinds of local impacts are tolerated.

In September 2010, the Center for Engineering, Ethics, and Society at the National Academy of Engineering began working with four other partners on a Climate Change Educational Partnership Phase I planning grant from the National Science Foundation. The project focused on defining and characterizing the societal and pedagogical challenges posed by the interactions of climate change, engineered systems and society, and identifying the educational efforts that a network could use to enable engineers, teachers, students, policymakers, and the public to meet the challenges. The project also aimed to build awareness of the complexities among a diverse set of communities affected by climate change and engineered systems and to engage the communities in addressing these challenges.

The Climate Change Educational Partnership is the summary of three workshops convened over the course of the grant on the interactions of climate change with engineered systems in society and the educational efforts needed to address them. The first workshop provided the partners with an introduction to the varied social and technical dimensions found in the relationships among climate, engineered systems, and society. The second workshop built on the common language developed in the first. It allowed the partners to expand involvement in the project to include representatives from community and tribal colleges, professional societies and business. It examined the opportunities and challenges for formal and informal education, particularly in engineering classrooms and science museums, to prepare students and citizens to address these issues. The third workshop allowed the partners to broaden further the discussion and the audience. It solicited participation from government officials, Native American tribal representatives, professional society leaders, as well as educators, artists, scientists, and engineers who are developing programs that can manage change and educate students and citizens in ways that foster their leadership skills. The Climate Change Educational Partnership will be a useful resource to engineers, educators, corporate leaders, local and regional officials, members of professional societies, and others in their efforts to understand and address the challenges of climate change and its societal impacts.

Despite calls to increase diversity throughout the engineering education enterprise and years of efforts by and collaborations between universities, K-12 schools, and professional societies and other education- or equity-related organizations, Black or African-American individuals, American Indian or Alaska Native individuals, and Hispanic or Latine individuals of any race do not participate in engineering education and occupations at parity, defined as the same proportions as their representation in the US population.

To review current and past efforts and explore ways to progress to a more diverse engineering profession and reach parity in comparison to the US population, the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) convened a virtual 3-day workshop series on March 18, March 30, and April 20, 2022. Attendees considered existing collaborations between extramural initiatives that support engineering student success and universities seeking to recruit and retain these students in undergraduate and advanced engineering education. Participants also shared potential new approaches for enhancing coordination among the various levels of the engineering education system to reach parity. This publication summarizes the presentation and discussion of the workshop.

The National Academy of Engineering convened a three-day workshop from May 24-26, 2021, which sought to define directions for future research on best practices, metrics, and policies that promote diversity in engineering and how they fit into the larger system of recruiting and retaining engineering students from all backgrounds. Workshop discussions examined the system of higher education admissions, transfer and 3+2 programs, research on admissions, and the advantages of and concerns with using artificial intelligence and data science tools in recruiting, admissions, and retention. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions of the workshop.