Wint, Natalie; (2022) The role of neoliberalism in the development of the 'new' engineer. In: Proceedings of the ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition 2022. (pp. pp. 1-20). American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE)

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Abstract

Neoliberal ideologies continue to pervade higher education throughout the world, this having profound consequences for both academics and students within engineering education. In adopting neoliberalism, universities focus on treating students as consumers who must be satisfied. Efforts to widen participation within engineering are often placed in the context of valorization and appear to concentrate on market driven issues of supply and demand as opposed to equity driven arguments of social justice. Learning outcomes have been utilized as a tool to serve utilitarianism and enable performance monitoring at the expense of emergent learning. Pressures to obtain high grades and employment upon graduation increase levels of student individualism and competitiveness. Many of these factors act to discourage teamwork and the inclusion of diverse perspectives. Academics are expected to generate large amounts of research funding and are subject to an audit culture which is enforced using ‘excellence frameworks’ and ‘satisfaction surveys’. The use of student feedback as an indicator of performance has acted to stifle innovation and hinder moves away from traditional teaching practice and means of assessment. Increased competition, not only from other institutions, but also internally between departments is believed to stifle collaboration. This work in progress study sets out to explore the features of neoliberalism evident within UK engineering education, and the ways in which these features act to impede progress toward the ongoing calls for socially responsible engineers who can work across disciplinary boundaries. The aim is to encourage active discussion, firstly about whether the aims and ambitions of engineering education, as conveyed through government, professional bodies and industrial stakeholders, can be fully realized within our current education systems, and secondly, around alternative philosophies that nurture and support engineering students and their learning.

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