Dignified Engineering Education: An Introduction

Human dignity, though challenging to define precisely, holds immense significance in our lives. It is the foundation of human rights and considered by researchers to be the most essential and influential existing value referring to the state of being worthy of honor or respect, as well as the moral right of not to be humiliated. Feeling dignified contributes to human well-being. In the field of education, some scholars argue that human dignity should not only be a guiding principle but also the ultimate goal of education and life. An education that integrates dignity offers more than just knowledge acquisition. It provides a way for society to support individuals explore their self-identity, internalize fundamental values, develop personal responsibility, and gain a deeper understanding of their character and identity. However, recent efforts, particularly in traditionally male-dominated and non-disabled-centric engineering education, have focused primarily on promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). This paper defines dignity within the context of engineering education and introduces a novel vision: “Dignifying Engineering Education” (DEE), which extends beyond DEI principles. Emerging from combining insights from literature on engineering education and human dignity, DEE emphasizes providing students with choice, respect, usefulness, inclusion, safety, equity and diversity (CRUISED). The implementation of DEE in universities allows creating an educational environment that not only equips students with up-to-date technical skills and tools but also promotes their well-being and personal growth in a respectful, inclusive, safe, fair and diverse environment. To do so, joint efforts of researchers and faculty are needed to set an action plan that is customized to the special needs of their organization and students' population. The paper concludes with recommendations for engineering universities seeking to transition to DEE. Follow-up research will outline the “DEE framework,” detailing actionable steps in six interconnected categories: facilities, course content, teaching/learning material, assessment, interactions and faculty.