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The Role of Research in Academic Drift Processes in European and American Professional Engineering Education Outside the Universities

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International Perspectives on Engineering Education

Part of the book series: Philosophy of Engineering and Technology ((POET,volume 20))

Abstract

‘Academic drift’ refers to a long term process induced by educational systems’ dynamics whereby vocationally and professionally oriented post-secondary education institutions with a focus on professional training, teaching, and learning strive to become like universities by incorporating university structures and emulating their values, norms, symbols and practices. In this process they increasingly aspire to research and scholarship. However, the role of research in academic drift processes in professional non-university engineering education has attracted relatively little attention in the literature on academic drift as the focus has up till recently largely been on the introduction of more theory in the curriculum at the expense of practice, on the vertical extension of study programs, and on the introduction of university courses in the engineering college sector. In this chapter we will examine three examples of research drift that have taken place in professional non-university engineering education institutions in Ireland, The Netherlands, and the United States, respectively, from the massive expansion of higher education in the 1960s to the present. More precisely we will examine and compare research drift in Irish Institutes of Technology, Dutch Hogescholen, and three American institutions – a public technical institute, a state teacher’s college, and a sectarian liberal arts university, and with an eye to recent developments in Denmark. In reviewing the literature, we have the following questions in mind: What are the driving forces behind academic drift in non-university engineering education in Europe and the United States? Are these driving forces of a similar nature or do they differ? Is academic drift desirable for vocationally and professionally oriented programs, and if not, can it be avoided? What research mission are former designated non-university engineering education institutions in Europe and the United States aspiring to fulfill? What kinds of tension and dilemma does this new mission create in the above-mentioned kinds of institution?

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The authors take full responsibility for this section. However we have incurred a considerable amount of debt as we have made an effort to validate the findings of the section trough personal communication with Mike Murphy and William Grimson, Dublin Institute of Technology. Dr. Mike Murphy is Director and Dean at College of Engineering and Built Environment. William Grimson is a chartered engineer, former Head of the Department of Electrical Engineering, and Registrar with overall responsibility for academic quality enhancement.

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Acknowledgements

For Steen Hyldgaard Christensen the writing of this chapter was made possible by a grant from the The Danish Council for Strategic Research (DSF) to the Program of Research on Opportunities and Challenges in Engineering Education in Denmark (PROCEED).

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    1. Department of Development & Planning, Aalborg University, Vestre Havnepromenade 5, Aalborg, 9000, Denmark

      Steen Hyldgaard Christensen

    2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Baylor University, One Bear Place 97356, Waco, TX, 76798, USA

      Byron Newberry

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    1. Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark

      Steen Hyldgaard Christensen

    2. Université Charles de Gaulle-Lille3, Lille, France

      Christelle Didier

    3. Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark

      Andrew Jamison

    4. KU Leuven, Ghent, Belgium

      Martin Meganck

    5. Liberal Arts and International Studies, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado, USA

      Carl Mitcham

    6. Baylor University, Waco, Texas, USA

      Byron Newberry

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    Christensen, S.H., Newberry, B. (2015). The Role of Research in Academic Drift Processes in European and American Professional Engineering Education Outside the Universities. In: Christensen, S., Didier, C., Jamison, A., Meganck, M., Mitcham, C., Newberry, B. (eds) International Perspectives on Engineering Education. Philosophy of Engineering and Technology, vol 20. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16169-3_2

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