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Wolf, Jessica Tammy

University of British Columbia

As equity, diversity, inclusion, and Indigeneity (EDI.I) are increasingly prioritized in higher education, engineering instructors are both making classrooms inclusive and teaching students about EDI.I. Including EDI.I content in engineering curricula is motivated by the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB) Graduate Attribute 10 and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action. Faculty and staff also need education on EDI.I concepts to foster an inclusive education environment and to teach students about EDI.I. The objectives of this research were: 1) to develop and evaluate a method for assessing comprehensiveness of taught EDI.I content in an engineering context, 2) to explore the comprehensiveness of EDI.I workshops (students, faculty, staff) and curricular content in our university’s engineering departments, and 3) to identify barriers and supports experienced by engineering instructors in integrating and assessing EDI.I content in their courses. Using a qualitative case study methodology, I explored the extent of EDI.I teaching and factors that influence teaching EDI.I in an engineering context. The first two objectives were met by conducting a deductive content analysis of EDI.I teaching materials, both in out-of-curricular workshops and core courses in multiple engineering programs. Data were collected via online survey (engineering EDI.I leaders) and semi-structured interviews (engineering instructors). EDI.I content was mapped to EDI and Indigeneity competency frameworks co-developed by the author and Faculty EDI.I committees, drawing from literature. Frameworks spanned four categories of EDI.I competence— Individual, Interpersonal, Organizational, and Societal—and three levels of mastery: Introduce, Develop, and Apply. Interviews also explored barriers and supports experienced when integrating EDI.I content into courses. Interview data was inductively coded using a thematic analysis approach. We found that EDI.I educators utilize diverse approaches, from standalone activities to content highly-integrated with engineering content. EDI.I content coverage in workshops and core courses varies by program and department, but was commonly limited at the Apply level, likely due to assuming minimal prior knowledge. Barriers to incorporating EDI.I content in courses included a lack of training, time, and resources; instructors and students perceiving EDI.I as (ir)relevant to engineering; and lack of confidence in teaching sensitive topics.

Text

2025-01-31

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/87134

Mechanical Engineering

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/