Title: National identities in multinational worlds: engineers and 'engineering cultures'

Authors: Gary Lee Downey, Juan C. Lucena

Addresses: Department of Science and Technology in Society, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA. ' Division of Liberal Arts and International Studies, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 80401, USA

Abstract: An important contemporary change in engineering practice is the increasing internationalisation of work, both through the expansion of multinational organisations and increasing mobility of engineers. International work can break assumed links between working for one|s employer, one|s country, humanity in general, and oneself. The recent expansion in continuing engineering education (CEE) has generally not included attention to issues in transnational careers. This paper introduces and summarises assessments of |Engineering Cultures|, a liberal arts approach to cross-cultural training for engineers through multimedia modules. These country-based modules examine how what counts as an engineer and engineering knowledge has varied over time and from place to place.

Keywords: globalisation; international work; multinational organisations; engineering practice; cross-cultural education; continuing engineering education; transnational careers; engineering cultures; training; multimedia; liberal arts; engineering knowledge; engineers.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCEELL.2005.007714

International Journal of Continuing Engineering Education and Life-Long Learning, 2005 Vol.15 No.3/4/5/6, pp.252 - 260

Published online: 03 Sep 2005 *

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