Exploring EWB-USA Members' Descriptions of Self, Engineers, and their Fellow Members

Abstract

Engineers Without Borders-USA (EWB-USA), an organization with over 13,800 members involved in engineering service projects around the world, presents a large population for research on an engineering service activity. Although anecdotal evidence claims that EWB-USA may be helping to change the conversation about the engineering field, additional research is needed. This exploratory study asked EWB-USA members to describe themselves, engineers, and fellow members at regional EWB-USA conferences around the country and analyzed the results (n = 505) using qualitative coding techniques to compare thematic overlap among the responses and to consider gendered differences. Findings showed that engineering and EWB-USA are nearly equivalent components of members’ self-descriptions, and that females showed more overlap with EWB-USA than males. These results can inform future studies on the organizations’ role in impacting changed perceptions of the engineering field and broadening participation.