Journeying into Engineering Education Research

Abstract

ABSTRACT Researchers face tensions as they journey into the field of Engineering Education Research (EER). Central to these tensions is the spectrum between the philosophical foundations of STEM-based engineering and Social Science-based education, which create internal and external challenges in the field. EER researchers must traverse the epistemological tension and the boundaries between disparate disciplines. As such, they may find themselves working on the fringes of EER’s parent disciplines (Engineering and Education) and not fully belonging to any community. This theoretical article draws on EER literature, several theoretical frameworks, and the research and lived experiences of the authors, two academics and three doctoral students who have journeyed into EER in Canada. It provides insights to new researchers to help them understand the nature of some of the struggles they may experience journeying into EER, awareness for more established researchers who may be already acquainted with the tensions, and critical context for universities and organisations wishing to build EER capability to inform the supports that new and existing EER researchers could use to thrive in EER communities.