Reauthoring engineering identities as belonging to a community engaged profession

Abstract

In this scholarly practice paper, we critically examined if and how engineering students in a first-year design course internalized their professional identity as engineers who were engaged in their communities. We describe the course, which used human-centered design projects as a mechanism to partner with community organizations. Based on a thematic analysis of three reflective essays (n = 105) for each student (n = 35), we found four distinct patterns related to identity development in relation to community engagement. We discuss implications from the findings regarding how educators can support students' development as community-engaged professionals.