Engineering studies is an interdisciplinary branch of social sciences and humanities devoted to the study of engineers and their activities, often considered a part of
science and technology studies (STS), and intersecting with and drawing from
engineering education research. Studying engineers refers among other to the history and the sociology of their profession, its institutionalization and organization, the social composition and structure of the population of engineers, their training, their trajectory, etc. A subfield is for instance
Women in engineering. Studying engineering refers to the study of engineering activities and practices, their knowledge and ontologies, their role into the society, their engagement.
Engineering studies investigates how social, political, economical, cultural and historical dynamics affect technological research, design, engineering and innovation, and how these, in turn, affect society, economics, politics and culture.
Engineering studies's mission is to further develop many different aspects of studies of engineers and engineering, it investigates in areas such as: history, culture, polity etc. These studies will have influence on world's engineering level and productivity. Which it provides information and scholar resources for researchers who's interested in studies of engineers and engineering. Also, engineering studies provides a platform for engineering studies research to be reviewed and discussed.
Subfields and related fields
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History of engineering
The concept of engineering has existed since ancient times as humans devised fundamental inventions such as the pulley, lever, and wheel. Each of these inventions is consistent with the modern definition of engineering, exploiting basic mechanical ...
*Sociology of engineers
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Women in engineering
*Engineering ethnography
*Engineering culture and
representation
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Design studies
Design studies can refer to any design-oriented studies but is more formally an academic discipline or field of study that pursues, through both theoretical and practical modes of inquiry, a critical understanding of design practice and its effect ...
*Social study of engineering sciences
*Engineering in society and political study of engineering
*Organizational studies of engineers and engineering
*Critical approach and
philosophy of engineering
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Engineering education
Engineering education is the activity of teaching knowledge and principles to the professional practice of engineering. It includes an initial education ( Dip.Eng.)and (B.Eng.) or ( M.Eng.), and any advanced education and specializations th ...
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Engineering ethics
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Science and technology studies
Science and technology studies (STS) or science, technology, and society is an interdisciplinary field that examines the creation, development, and consequences of science and technology in their historical, cultural, and social contexts.
Histo ...
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Social construction of technology
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Social shaping of technology
Social shaping of technology (SST) is the concept that there are choices (though not necessarily conscious choices) inherent in both the design of individual artifacts and systems, and in the direction or trajectory of innovation programs.* Robin ...
*
Technological change
Technological change (TC) or technological development is the overall process of invention, innovation and diffusion of innovations, diffusion of technology or business process, processes.From ''The New Palgrave Dictionary otechnical change by S. ...
*Sociology of innovation
*
History of technology
The history of technology is the history of the invention of tools and techniques by humans. Technology includes methods ranging from simple stone tools to the complex genetic engineering and information technology that has emerged since the 19 ...
*Constructive
technology assessment
Technology assessment (TA, , ) is a practical process of determining the value of a new or emerging technology in and of itself or against existing technologies. This is a means of assessing and rating the new technology from the time when it w ...
Concepts
Journals
*''Engineering Studies''
*''International Journal of Engineering, Social Justice, and Peace''
Associations
*The International Network for Engineering Studies
*Society for the History of the Technology
*Society for Philosophy and Technology
*Society for the Social Study of Science
*European Society for the Study of Science and Technology
*Société d'Anthropologie des Connaissances
*Engineering, Social Justice, and Peace network
References
Citations
Sources
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Bijker, Wiebe, Thomas Hughes & Trevor Pinch (eds.) (1987). ''The Social Construction of Technological Systems: New Directions in the Sociology and History of Technology'' Cambridge MA/London:
MIT Press
The MIT Press is the university press of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The MIT Press publishes a number of academic journals and has been a pioneer in the Open Ac ...
.
* Bijker, Wiebe & John
Law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...
(eds.) (1994). ''Shaping Technology / Building Society: Studies in Sociotechnical Change''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press (Inside Technology Series).
* Downey, Gary Lee (1998) ''The Machine in Me: An Anthropologist Sits Among Computer Engineers''. Routledge.
* Downey, Gary Lee & Kacey Beddoes (eds) (2011) ''What is Global Engineering Education For? The Making of International Educators''. Morgan and Claypool Publishers.
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Hughes, Thomas (1983) ''Networks of Power: Electrification in Western Society, 1880-1930'', Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
*Jasanoff, Sheila, Gerald Markle, James Petersen &
Trevor Pinch
Trevor J. Pinch (1 January 1952 – 16 December 2021) was a British sociologist, part-time musician and chair of the science and technology studies department at Cornell University. In 2018, he won the J.D. Bernal Prize from the Society for ...
(eds.) (1994). ''Handbook of Science and Technology Studies''. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
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Latour, Bruno (1987). ''Science in action: How to follow scientists and engineers through society''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
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MacKenzie, Donald & Judy Wajcman (eds.) (1999). ''The Social Shaping of Technology: How the Refrigerator Got Its Hum,'' Milton Keynes, Open University Press.
*MacKenzie, Donald (1996). ''Knowing Machines: Essays on Technical Change''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press (Inside Technology Series).
*Restivo, Sal (ed.) (2005), ''Science, Technology, and Society: An Encyclopedia''. New York: Oxford.
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Rip, Arie, Thomas J. Misa & Johan Schot (eds) (1995). ''Managing Technology in Society: The approach of Constructive Technology Assessment'' London/NY: Pinter.
*Rosenberg, Nathan (1994) ''Exploring the Black Box: Technology, Economics and History'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
*
Vinck, Dominique (2003). ''Everyday engineering. Ethnography of design and innovation''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.
External links
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Engineering practices. The Knowledge of Action'
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Diversity in Engineering Bibliography'
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Engineering Studies'
{{science and technology studies
Interdisciplinary subfields of sociology
Engineering education