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Although teamwork is being integrated throughout engineering education because of the perceived benefits of teams, the construct of psychological safety has been largely ignored in engineering research. This omission is unfortunate, because psychological safety reflects collective perceptions about how comfortable team members feel in sharing their perspectives and it has been found to positively impact team performance in samples outside of engineering. Engineering team research has also been crippled by “snap-shot” methodologies and the resulting lack of investigation into the dynamic changes that happen within a team over course projects. This is problematic, because we do not know when, how, or what type of interventions are needed to effectively improve “t-shaped” engineering skills like teamwork, communication, and engaging successfully in a diverse team. In light of these issues, the goal of the current study was to understand how psychological safety might be measured practically and reliably in engineering student teams over time. In addition, we sought to identify the trajectory of psychological safety for engineering design student teams and identify the potential factors that impact the building and waning of psychological safety in these teams. This was accomplished through a 4-week study with 12 engineering design teams where data was captured at six time points. The results of this study present some of the first evidence on the reliability of psychological safety in engineering student populations. The results also help begin to answer some difficult fundamental questions on supporting team performance in engineering education.
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This content will become publicly available on August 17, 2026
Team Diversity and Contribution Equity in Engineering Design Education: Exploring Collaborative Dynamics
Collaboration is highly emphasized in engineering design education. While it offers various advantages in fostering learning and professional development, it is imperative to acknowledge the adverse factors that can disrupt collaborative efforts. By far, one of the most frequently cited challenges in student teamwork is perceived contribution inequity, which often leads to frustration during collaboration and strains peer relationships. Much work has been done to investigate effective team collaboration. Still, few studies have empirically delved into perceived contribution fairness or contribution equity from the lens of team diversity in engineering design. This study aims to investigate the complex relationship between team diversity (in terms of differences in gender composition and self-perceptions about one’s ability and interests) and contribution equity in student teams. Data were collected from 26 teams in a sophomore-level engineering design course across two semesters. Findings suggest that gender-diverse teams demonstrated a higher tendency for contribution fairness, whereas teams with greater homogeneity in design interests and teamwork preferences were more likely to contribute fairly. These results highlight the importance of a strategic approach to team formation, considering diversity dimensions to promote equitable collaboration in engineering design education.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2306176
- PAR ID:
- 10590082
- Publisher / Repository:
- ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conference
- Date Published:
- Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
- team diversity contribution equity engineering design education student teamwork
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Location:
- Anaheim, California
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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