Institutional Obstacles to Ethnographic Observation in Engineering Industry

Abstract

Abstract This research paper describes the challenges our research team has encountered in conducting a study of the school-to-work transitions of new engineers. In 2006 the Engineering Education Research Colloquies identified the need to study the transition from college to professional engineering work based on the importance of this transition period for showing engineering educators what knowledge and skills young engineers need to succeed in the workplace. Indeed, understanding this transition has implications not only for the structure of undergraduate engineering programs and accreditation systems, but can also shed light on the state of engineering as a profession. The gold standard for examining this transition period is organizational ethnography—observing young engineers as they become integrated into their first work environment. In 2014 our research team won funding to study this transition period, but progress has been slower than anticipated due to extreme difficulty gaining access to engineering firms. An unexpected barrier to access has been convincing engineering firms that their proprietary information will not be at risk if they allow a researcher to observe their employees at work. This methods paper comments on the increasingly corporate orientation of engineering firms and presents best practices for gaining access to field sites, including identifying key gatekeepers, negotiating non-disclosure agreements, and developing relevant articulations of “value added.”