ERIC Number: EJ1460393
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Mar
Pages: 14
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0161-7761
EISSN: EISSN-1548-1492
Available Date: 2024-10-04
Perpetuating Ableism in Engineering Education: The Role of User Abstraction and Expertise Hierarchies in the Design Process
Anthropology & Education Quarterly, v56 n1 e12531 2025
This ethnographic study investigates the teaching and learning of the design process in biomedical engineering classrooms. Through classroom fieldwork, we examine how faculty and students conceptualize and implement the design process, focusing on its linear teaching methods, the abstraction of users, and the reinforcement of expertise hierarchies. Our analysis reveals how these pedagogical practices perpetuate ableist assumptions within engineering education. This research contributes to the understanding of how educational practices in engineering shape professional identities and reinforce systemic biases.
Descriptors: Engineering Education, Attitudes toward Disabilities, Design, Biomedicine, Classroom Environment, Student Attitudes, Teacher Attitudes, Faculty, College Students, Disabilities, Social Bias, Teaching Methods, Expertise, Educational Practices
Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www-wiley-com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-us
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York, USA