Table 1
Three periodical databases and our Boolean search terms used to identify potential articles in the initial step.
| Subjects | Databases (Description) | Combination of Search Terms and Word Strings |
|---|---|---|
| Education | ERIC (EBSCO Interface—Bibliographic database sponsored by the US Department of Education, is the premier source for education-related research, documents, and journal articles. Link: http://guides.lib.purdue.edu/db/ericebsco) Education Source (The most complete collection of full-text education journals, monographs, yearbooks and more, covering scholarly research and information to meet the needs of education students, professionals, and policy makers. It covers all levels of education—from early childhood to higher education—as well as all educational specialties, such as multilingual education, health education, and testing.) Link: http://guides.lib.purdue.edu/db/edsource) | Search 1: (ethnographic or ethnography or critical ethnography) AND engineering Search 2: (ethnographic or ethnography or critical ethnography) AND engineering. Limiters: Date Published: 20050101-20200631; Education Level: Higher Education; Publication Type: Collected Works - Proceedings, Dissertations/Theses (All), Journal Articles; Language: English Search 3: (ethnographic or ethnography or critical ethnography) AND engineering education. Limiters: Date Published: 20050101-20200631; Education Level: Higher Education; Publication Type: Collected Works - Proceedings, Dissertations/Theses (All), Journal Articles; Language: English |
| Engineering | Engineering Village (Compendex and INSPEC Combined—Engineering Village is the information discovery platform to search across both Compendex and INSPEC databases. This search platform includes engineering-related articles. Link: https://www.engineeringvillage.com/search/quick.url) | Search 1: ((((((ethnographic or ethnology or ethnography) WN KY) AND ((engineering) WN KY))) AND (({engineering education} WN CV) AND (({ja} OR {cp}) WN DT) AND ({english} WN LA))) AND ((2020 OR 2019 OR 2018 OR 2017 OR 2016 OR 2015 OR 2014 OR 2012 OR 2011 OR 2010 OR 2009 OR 2008 OR 2007 OR 2006) WN YR)) |
Table 2
Included Studies.
| Author(s)/Year | Location | Population | Critical Definition/Application | Ethnography Definition/Application |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Banerjee & Pawley (2013) | USA | Faculty | Feminist methods (critical construct) | Institutional ethnography—defined as developing knowledge systems that transcends day-to-day lives and delves deeper into the ordinary world |
| Beddoes (2012) | USA | Self-identified academic feminists | Feminist theory (critical construct) | Ethnographic interviews |
| Bernhard et al. (2019) | Denmark | Undergraduate students—design course | — | Video ethnography—students wore cameras during data collection |
| Bornasal et al. (2018) | USA | Practicing engineers | — | Ethnography—described methods as observations, interviews, artifacts |
| Buch (2016) | Denmark | Practicing engineers | — | Did not use the word ethnography but described being embedded in site, collected field notes, observations, interviews |
| Burt (2019) | USA | Graduate students in engineering research group | — | Ethnography—defined as aims to uncover the culture embedded in human activities |
| Campbell et al. (2019) | Canada | Undergraduate students—engineering teams | — | Ethnography—described methods as observations, interviews, immersion in field |
| Carroll (2014) | USA | Undergraduate student mentors in STEM afterschool program | — | Ethnographic journal reflections |
| Chorev & Anderson (2006) | Israel | Practicing engineers | — | Ethnographic life history interviews |
| Cicek et al. (2019) | Canada | Professor and research group team | — | Ethnographic action research—defined as a combination of ethnography and action research |
| Convertino (2018) | USA | Latinx undergraduate students in pre-engineering course | Borderwork and new mobilities paradigm (critical constructs) | Ethnography—defined as the immersion of researchers into everyday activities/experiences to see firsthand how people grapple with uncertainties |
| Convertino & Mein (2017) | USA | Undergraduate students in pre-engineering course | Sociocultural theory and cultural historical activity theory (critical constructs) | Ethnography—defined as the immersion of researchers into everyday activities/experiences to see firsthand how people grapple with uncertainties |
| Crede & Borrego (2013) | USA | Graduate student engineering research groups | — | Ethnography—defined as a strategy of inquiry in which researchers study intact cultural groups over time |
| Danielsson et al. (2019) | Sweden | Working-class men in engineering | Masculinity and identity work (critical constructs) | Ethnography—methods described as observations, interviews, participant diaries |
| Eastman et al. (2017) | USA | Four freshmen in engineering | Critical race theory and critical pedagogy | Ethnography—methods described as observations, interviews, artifacts |
| Foor et al. (2007) | USA | Multi-racial woman undergraduate engineer | Critical cultural theory | Ethnography “of the particular”—described as a single student narrative from larger ethnographic study |
| Foor & Walden (2009) | USA | Undergraduate students in engineering | Borderlands and post-structural feminist approach (critical constructs) | Ethnographic interviews |
| Gilbert (2009) | Switzerland | Engineering departments | Gendered differences (critical constructs) | Ethnography—defined as a method of analysis of local contexts in varying institutional contexts to gain firsthand information about a community |
| Hou & McDowell (2014) | England | Chinese and British undergraduate engineering students | International student experiences (critical construct) | Longitudinal ethnographic study—methods described as interviews, observations, document analysis |
| Khandekar (2013) | USA | Indian graduate students in USA | Colonialism and neoliberalism (critical constructs) | Multi-sited ethnographic study—methods described as interviews and observations |
| Malish & Ilavarasan (2016) | India | Indian students in engineering program | Scheduled caste differences (critical construct) | Ethnographic accounts—described methods as interviews, observations, documents |
| Martin et al. (2008) | USA | Undergraduate students in engineering | — | Ethnographic interviews |
| Martin & Garza (2020) | USA | Black woman graduate student and white professor | Critical race theory (critical construct) | Collaborative authoethnography—defined as connecting the personal to cultural constructs |
| McLoughlin (2009) | USA | Undergraduate women in engineering | Feminist standpoint theory (critical construct) | Ethnography—described methods as interviews and participant observations |
| Mein & Esquinca (2014) | USA | Transfonterzio students | Bilingualism and bilingual literacy (critical construct) | Ethnographic approaches—defined as the immersion of researchers into everyday activities/experiences to see firsthand how people grapple with uncertainties |
| Mein et al. (2020) | USA | Latinx students in engineering | Discourse analysis on identities (critical construct) | Ethnographic in orientation—defined as the immersion of researchers into everyday activities/experiences to see firsthand how people grapple with uncertainties |
| Ramey & Uttal (2017) | USA | Undergraduate students at summer engineering camp | — | Cognitive ethnography—defined as interaction between participants’ internal cognitive processes and other people in the environment |
| Smith & Lucena (2016) | USA | Low-income and first-generation students in engineering | Social identity (critical construct) | Ethnography—described methods as observations, interviews |
| Tonso (2006a) | USA | Undergraduate engineering students | Cultural production theory (critical construct) | Ethnography—described methods as observations, interviews |
| Tonso (2006b) | USA | Undergraduate student engineers | — | Ethnography—described method as extensive participant observation |
| Vickers (2007) | USA | Undergraduate engineering students | — | Ethnography—described method as participant observations |
| Walden & Foor (2008) | USA | Undergraduate student engineers | — | Ethnographic interviews |
| Wilson-Lopez et al. (2016) | USA | Latinx adolescents in engineering design process | Social identity (critical construct) | Ethnography—described methods as interviews, observations |
Table 3
Overall Assessment of Articles by Theme.
| Ethnographic methodological design (n = 35) |
| Ethnography as a study of culture (n = 9) |
| Ethnography as not defined (n = 11) |
| Ethnography adjacent (n = 7) |
| Additional types of ethnography (n = 8) |
| Topics of empirical investigation (n = 35) |
| Student experiences (n = 12) |
| Student learning (n = 11) |
| Engineering culture (n = 6) |
| Other (e.g. faculty, practicing engineers) (n = 5) |
| Critical Orientation (n = 22) |
| Critical ethnography (n = 1) |
| Critical theories/approaches (n = 5) |
| Critical constructs (n = 16) |
Figure 1
Infographic of Dimension 1 – Ethnographic Methodological Design (relative size and position convey number and relationship of papers in category.
Figure 2
Infographic of Dimension 2 – Topics of Empirical Investigation (relative size and position convey number and relationship of papers in category).
Figure 3
Infographic of Dimension 3 – Critical Orientation (relative size and position convey number and relationship of papers in category).