Making Publics Visible: Utilizing STS Knowledge for Public Identification and Engagement

Abstract

Public Interest Technology (PIT) is an emerging field focused upon ensuring that innovative technologies are designed, distributed, and mediated for the well-being of the public. PIT seeks to educate technologists, engineers, and researchers to be cognizant of the public impact of their work and to train policymakers to equitably mediate the scope and reach of technology. However, the reach and impact of PIT work can be further enhanced through theoretical and pragmatic Science, Technology, and Society (STS) knowledge. For the past four years, I have worked on a large-scale change initiative in an electrical and computer engineering (ECE) department. An in-depth qualitative study of the department revealed several challenges within the department regarding identity, sense of belonging, invisible work, and career trajectory. As a scholar-practitioner, I employed STS theory and pragmatic knowledge to create three critically crafted interventions to address these challenges. First, STS knowledge was utilized to investigate the challenges within the department and understand how these challenges affected the multiple stakeholders and the culture of the ECE department. Second, pragmatic STS knowledge was utilized to create projects to shift the boundaries within the engineering department that limited the professional, academic, and personal opportunities of the engineering student. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how my application of STS theoretical and pragmatic scholarship to address the culture of an electrical and computer engineering department can contribute to the field of PIT.