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Engineering Teams: Supporting Diversity in Engineering Education

Engineering Teams: Supporting Diversity in Engineering Education

Jennifer Loy, Simon Howell, Rae Cooper
Copyright: © 2017 |Pages: 24
ISBN13: 9781522522126|ISBN10: 1522522123|EISBN13: 9781522522133
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-2212-6.ch006
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MLA

Loy, Jennifer, et al. "Engineering Teams: Supporting Diversity in Engineering Education." Strategies for Increasing Diversity in Engineering Majors and Careers, edited by Monica Gray and Ken D. Thomas, IGI Global, 2017, pp. 106-129. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-2212-6.ch006

APA

Loy, J., Howell, S., & Cooper, R. (2017). Engineering Teams: Supporting Diversity in Engineering Education. In M. Gray & K. Thomas (Eds.), Strategies for Increasing Diversity in Engineering Majors and Careers (pp. 106-129). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-2212-6.ch006

Chicago

Loy, Jennifer, Simon Howell, and Rae Cooper. "Engineering Teams: Supporting Diversity in Engineering Education." In Strategies for Increasing Diversity in Engineering Majors and Careers, edited by Monica Gray and Ken D. Thomas, 106-129. Hershey, PA: IGI Global, 2017. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-2212-6.ch006

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Abstract

Engineering education increasingly involves working in groups. This is partly because of a growing value placed on graduate attributes relating to effective team working, and partly a response to the practicalities of working with large groups in an educational environment and the emphasis on peer learning. This chapter argues that a superficial approach to understanding the drivers for establishing and managing groups during first year activities can have negative outcomes, including re-enforcing majority dominance. This will potentially contribute to attrition amongst minority students and undermine the outcomes for the engineering cohort as a whole. This chapter provides strategies for building groups in the first year focussing on team building, valuing diversity and cultural awareness. It emphasises the importance of transferable skills for students and of understanding themselves, their heritage, attitudes and values and their contribution to a team, building an approach to support diversity in teams throughout the engineering degree program.

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