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Manufacturing engineers work in teams with a wide range of skills and credentials. Teamwork and collaborative problem solving (CPS) skills enable higher productivity and efficiency. However, these skills are largely absent from engineering education curricula and research in contexts involving multi-educational teams inclusive of technical college engineering students. We address this gap in research and practice through a qualitative case study exploring the contributions, experiences, and perspectives of technical college students working in multi-educational level teams to solve real-world engineering manufacturing problems. Data analyses resulted in six themes: (1) positive team culture, (2) valuing industry skills, (3) sharing responsibilities to iteratively make changes, (4) applying technical roles, (5) peer interactions, and (6) career preparation. Technical college students’ perceptions of challenges and successes are also discussed. Results imply that to effectively promote CPS and teamwork in similar contexts educators and industry leaders should consider the importance of (1) valuing students’/workers’ current professional identities while promoting productive conflict, (2) respecting differing team roles while encouraging skill development, and (3) fostering future career skills.
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Intercultural Readiness: Mapping Effective Teamwork Strategies in Engineering Teams to the Intercultural Development Continuum
This research paper explores the experiences of engineering students and professionals in multicultural teams, aiming to understand successful strategies for working in such environments. With the engineering field diversifying rapidly due to globalization, there is a growing need for engineers to possess cross-cultural communication and collaboration skills alongside technical knowledge. This study aims to improve the effectiveness of engineering education and addresses the evolving needs for engineering education and the role of educators in preparing future engineers for multicultural teamwork. The following research questions guided our study: (i). What strategies do engineering students and professionals hold and employ in navigating multicultural teamwork?, and (ii) How do these specific strategies mentioned by engineering students and professionals align with the developmental orientations on the Intercultural Developmental Continuum (IDC)? The study employed a qualitative approach, with interviews and focus groups conducted with 41 engineering students and 17 professionals who reported prior experience working on multicultural teams. Participants discussed their experiences and strategies, which were categorized into social behavioral, cognitive, and affective attitudinal themes. A total of 17 strategy types were identified in the student data and 16 types in the professional data. Strategies were in turn mapped to different developmental orientations on the IDC, showing a relationship between strategies described by participants and associated stages of intercultural development. Our findings reveal likely gaps in multicultural teamwork abilities among both students and professionals. More specifically, engineering students and professionals may benefit from expanded intercultural development training to foster more ethnorelative approaches to teamwork. Future research could involve participants completing the IDI survey before interviews to better understand their individual levels of intercultural development, followed by efforts to design and pilot training and educational materials aligned with particular intercultural development levels. This research contributes to understanding successful strategies for working in multicultural teams, benefiting educators, practitioners, and engineering students alike.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2044390
- PAR ID:
- 10577800
- Publisher / Repository:
- IEEE
- Date Published:
- ISBN:
- 979-8-3503-5150-7
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 1 to 9
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Location:
- Washington, DC, USA
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript
- Conference Paper:
- https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE61694.2024.10892844
