Social & Cultural perspectives

The first, and most important, system perspective is the social and cultural perspective that an engineering project sits within. Engagement with minority cultures or groups within cultures can enrich a project through sharing the knowledge and social practices between cultures. As an engineer, you should recognise that we often frame our thinking about systems for the dominant culture, and by doing so we disenfranchise minority groups.

Example applications

Studying at ANU in 2016, there are two social and cultural perspectives that should be contextually at the forefront of your thinking - Aboriginal reconciliation and gender equality.

The term Aboriginal engineering is not commonplace, but it is a perspective that Leigh et al (2015) put forward in their approach for including Aboriginal perspectives into engineering education. Their steps for engagement are outlined below.

On gender equity, companies and organisations are developing frameworks for promoting equal opportunities. The ANU has taken a leading role in the Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE) framework, which upholds the Athena SWAN principles (see the Equity Challenge Unit’s website){: .link-ext target=”_blank” }.

It should be noted, though, on both of these perspectives, we have a long way to go.

Steps

Leigh et al (2015) suggests steps we should take for incorporating Aboriginal perspectives (which could easily be applied to other minority groups):

1. start with a new philosophy (focus on two-way learning)
2. explore engineering from three perspectives (dominant, Aboriginal, & engineering perspectives)
3. consider and validate ‘an’ Aboriginal perspective
4. consider the 5Rights by engaging with community
   • • Right People, Right Place, Right Language, Right Time, Right Way
5. tailor the learning experience

Key concepts

• an explanation of what a social or cultural minority is, and how it is different to the dominant perspectives
• an engineering example of incorporating and valuing a different social or cultural perspective
• advice to the student engineer on how to incorporate social and cultural perspectives into their project

Core resources

• Leigh, E., Goldfinch, T., Dawes, L., Prpic, K., McCarthy, T., Kennedy, J., (2015) “Shifting the Focus. Incorporating knowledge about Aboriginal engineering into main stream content”, Australian Association for Engineering Education Conference

• Athena SWAN principles on the Equity Challenge Unit’s website

Similar tools…

Recognising the social and cultural context is a key part of professional practice - see the [Engineers Australia Code of

Ethics](https://www.engineersaustralia.org.au//sites/default/files/shado/About%20Us/Overview/Governance/codeofethics2010.pdf)