A Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Model for Engineering Curriculums

Abstract

The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) has included the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) into the General Criteria for Accrediting Engineering Programs. The intent is for these professional competencies to be taught in tandem with the technical skills provided by the engineering curriculum, however there are few guidelines on how to do this. In this paper, the authors propose a model to help instructors incorporate DEI principles into existing engineering coursework; the approach is based on a competency building model previously developed to integrate international competencies into systems engineering courses by identifying opportunities in the student learning cycle. This paper adapts that model by identifying both the appropriate competencies to develop and the classroom context factors that support DEI. The competencies, cognitive style awareness and teamwork, are fostered using constructs from a learning model, while the classroom context factors include the technical content, interactions with other students, and the teaching environment. An example is provided that illustrates the use of the model in a systems engineering curriculum to improve an existing course module to better adhere to DEI principles. The DEI competencies identified by this model augment those advocated by the systems engineering community, i.e., the necessary characteristics to be successful as professionals in the systems engineering field. The integrated DEI model can be used to improve existing curriculum to meet these needs.