Integrating Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Concepts into an
Introductory Engineering Course
Weican Xiao∗
wxiao@endicott.edu
Endicott College
Beverly, MA, USA
ABSTRACT
Acknowledging diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is an integral
part of the engineering design process, from building an effective
team to meeting customer requirements and public needs. While
many DEI concepts are implicitly and explicitly taught within engi-
neering curricula, as described in ABET student outcomes required
for program accreditation, there is often space to emphasize these
concepts in a stronger way. This paper presents DEI learning out-
comes, written assignments and class activities that were added to
an introductory engineering course with the intention of impressing
undergraduate freshmen of the importance of DEI in engineering.
The assignments and activities that were either added or altered
from previous semesters included reading about DEI issues, lis-
tening to educators and industry professionals, writing accessible
documentation, and researching engineering case studies. The new
DEI content was integrated seamlessly into course topics related to
the engineering design process and engineering ethics, without sac-
rificing content integral to the course. A survey taken of students
at the completion of the course shows that the learning outcomes
were met. The most influential activity in the students’ eyes to form
their understanding of DEI in engineering was conducting their
own research into an ethics case at the course conclusion.
CCS CONCEPTS
• Social and professional topics; • Social and Professional
Concepts;
KEYWORDS
Engineering educations, Learning outcomes, DEI, ABET
ACM Reference Format:
Weican Xiao and Jessica D. Ventura. 2023. Integrating Diversity, Equity and
Inclusion Concepts into an Introductory Engineering Course. In 2023 the
9th International Conference on Frontiers of Educational Technologies (ICFET)
(ICFET 2023), June 09–11, 2023, Bali, Indonesia. ACM, New York, NY, USA,
6 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3606150.3606174
∗ Both
authors contributed equally to this research.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution International
4.0 License.
ICFET 2023, June 09–11, 2023, Bali, Indonesia
© 2023 Copyright held by the owner/author(s).
ACM ISBN 979-8-4007-0735-3/23/06.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3606150.3606174
146
Jessica D. Ventura
jventura@endicott.edu
Endicott College
Beverly, MA, USA
1 INTRODUCTION
Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is getting more and more
attention in engineering education recently[4, 6]. Embracing DEI
considerations is an integral part of the engineering design process.
For example, engineers should seek varied points of view when
building and managing a design team, ask the right questions to
fully elicit and detail customer requirements, and consider broader
impacts of the design that may affect members of the public[1].
Engineers should implement validated idea generation techniques
to broaden their design space and employ evaluation methods to
identify the best solutions available from clear criteria to reduce
bias.
ABET, the accreditation board for engineering and technology,
expects engineering programs to prepare students with an ability
to “apply engineering design to produce solutions that meet speci-
fied needs with consideration of public health, safety, and welfare,
as well as global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic
factors;” “communicate effectively with a range of audiences;” “rec-
ognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering sit-
uations and make informed judgments, which must consider the
impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental,
and societal contexts;” and “function effectively on a team whose
members together provide leadership, create a collaborative and
inclusive environment, establish goals, plan tasks, and meet ob-
jectives” [2]. These stated goals promoting DEI comprise four of
seven student outcomes that must be demonstrated for program
accreditation. Even programs that address these learning outcomes
throughout the curriculum can benefit from assessing and further
strengthening their delivery.
The engineering faculty at Endicott College chose to strengthen
the focus on DEI at the bookends of the Engineering degree pro-
gram, that is, in the students’ freshman introductory and senior
capstone courses. This manuscript will present changes made to
the introductory course to underscore the importance of DEI in
the engineering profession to freshmen in the major. The following
sections describe learning outcomes, class activities, and written
assignments that were introduced or altered in the Fall 2022 semes-
ter.
2 COURSE STRUCTURE
EGR 100 Introduction to Engineering is a freshman course that
introduces students to the fundamental principles of engineering
design. This course teaches students how teamwork, communica-
tion, and design techniques can be applied to a variety of engineer-
ing problems. Two design projects that stem from class exercises
have traditionally been assigned to student groups, each project
spanning approximately half of the semester. There was a total of
ICFET 2023, June 09–11, 2023, Bali, Indonesia
32 students enrolled in two sections of the course during the Fall
2022 semester, with one section of 19 students and the other 13
students. The lecture contents and schedule were nearly identical
between sections, but each taught by a different instructor.
2.1 Learning Outcomes
Prior to the emphasis on DEI in the course, there were six learn-
ing outcomes as presented in the first column of Table 1. The DEI
initiative introduced one learning outcome and altered another, as
shown in bold lettering in the second column. The prior learning
outcomes envelope some DEI concepts and values without explic-
itly stating them. Adding “Recognize the need for a world that
honors human difference and the importance of taking action to ad-
vance equity and inclusion” as a distinct outcome was necessary to
uphold the importance of DEI that the course instructors embrace.
Furthermore, the outcome regarding communication was clarified
by expanding beyond “peers and members of the community” to
the more detailed “people having accessibility needs, coming from
diverse backgrounds and/or approaching the topic with unique
perspectives”.
2.2 Class Schedule
During the initiative to enhance DEI learning outcomes for EGR
100, the class schedule was not disrupted. Assignments and class
activities that were altered or added during the DEI initiative are
indicated in bold font in the class schedule (Table 2). Details about
each of these changes are described in detail in the following sec-
tions.
3 LESSONS AND CLASS ACTIVITIES
3.1 Class Identity
After introducing the requirements, structure, and topics of EGR
100 during the first class period, the instructors took time to help
the students understand different aspects of their individual identi-
ties and how they relate to the other members of the class. Using
Google forms, the instructor conducted a live, anonymous survey
composed of 20 questions that spanned many categories of personal
and social identity1 . The questions were multiple choice (with a
write-in option) or on a linear scale. The instructor walked the stu-
dents through the questions verbally, so that all understood what
was meant by each question and had the opportunity to respond.
Then, the instructor opened the summary of responses compiled
by the Google form, allowing the class to see a pie chart of the
responses to each question. Using the summary tool, the instructor
could allow students to see how their peers identified themselves
and their experiences without specifically naming anyone. The goal
of this exercise was to define the “class identity” and characterize
the similarities and differences of its members.
3.2 Writing Accessible Documentation
At the conclusion of the first design project, student teams were
required to write a report on the engineering design process. For
the second design project, they wrote instructions on how to as-
semble and code their product. Altered during the DEI initiative
1 https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/inclusive-teaching/
147
Weican Xiao and Jessica D. Ventura
were details about writing accessible documentation during the
lecture on technical writing[5]. Google’s developer documentation
style guide was provided and explained to the students as an addi-
tional component of writing. Both the team report and instructions
had grading components added that relate to accessible language,
headings, and images.
3.3 Stereotype Threat
In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalized belief about a
particular category of people[3]. There are many negative results
from stereotype threat. It distracts people and affects feelings of be-
longing and trust, which matter both in classrooms and on campus.
During the week focused on engineering careers, the class watched
a video together from the Society of Women Engineers Advanced
Learning Center, “Get Out of Your Own Head: Understanding and
Unraveling Stereotype Threat,” about how to recognize and confront
the issue [9]. Following the presentation and short class discussion,
the students responded to the following questions in an individual,
in-class written assignment:
1. Define what stereotype threat is and the multiple populations
it affects.
2. Provide examples of personal and professional situations when
stereotype threats may be present.
3. What strategies can reduce stereotype threat?
The intention of showing and discussing this webinar was to
prepare students for overt prejudice and microaggressions they
might encounter in the workplace, so that they can identify the is-
sue and act to defend themselves or others. The following response
from one student showed a clear understanding of the concepts
presented:
“A stereotype is a negative over generalization of a specific group
of people. Stereotyping can happen to anyone. Often there are un-
fair and untrue beliefs that many people have about groups of
people with a particular characteristic. For example, women are
sometimes positively stereotyped as warm but negatively stereo-
typed as weak. In society we see these generalizations often as
people are stereotyped and discriminated against for their race,
gender, disabilities, actions, and so much more. In the workplace
42% of employed women feel discriminated against at least once a
month. Most people also said that race-based discrimination in the
workplace occurs at least once per month and 35% of people in the
LGBTQ say they experience discrimination once a week. We need
to understand more about stereotypes and their effects to reduce
them. If someone were to think about a role model that you feel
you are being stereotyped to, it will help when you think about
everything they have achieved despite the generalization. Another
method to reduce the threat of stereotypes is to remind yourself of
a growth mindset, it does not mean you cannot change something
through hard work. We can use self-evidence to remind ourselves
that you can be successful no matter what.”
Also in this unit was an on-site seminar hosted by iRobot called
“Permission to Fail.” The panelists from iRobot included engineers,
managers and staff. In response to the event, students were required
to write a detailed paragraph describing the differences between the
panelists and their career paths. How do their identity, struggles,
and successes bring value to the engineering field? Are there ways
Integrating Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Concepts into an Introductory Engineering Course ICFET 2023, June 09–11, 2023, Bali, Indonesia

Table 1: Learning outcomes listed on the syllabus for EGR 100 Introduction to Engineering at Endicott College

Fall 2018 to Spring 2022 Fall 2022 to present

At the completion of this course, students will be able to:
1. Describe the scope, methodology and skills involved in
the engineering design process.
2. Seek out the necessary information to define a design
problem, including objectives and constraints.
3. Diagram a system using functional analysis tools.
4. Implement various methods to generate ideas and
apply metrics to evaluate their merit in terms of
production, use, sustainability and economics.
5. Communicate in written and oral formats to peers and
members of the community.
6. Function effectively on a team whose members
together provide leadership, create a collaborative
and inclusive environment, establish goals, plan tasks,
and meet objectives.
At the completion of this course, students will be able to:
1. Describe the scope, methodology and skills involved in
the engineering design process.
2. Seek out the necessary information to define a design
problem, including objectives and constraints.
3. Diagram a system using functional analysis tools.
4. Implement various methods to generate ideas and
apply metrics to evaluate their merit in terms of
production, use, sustainability and economics.
5. Recognize the need for a world that honors human
difference and the importance of taking action to
advance equity and inclusion.
6. Communicate in written and oral formats with people
having accessibility needs, coming from diverse
backgrounds and/or approaching the topic with.
unique perspectives.
7. Function effectively on a team whose members
together provide leadership, create a collaborative and
inclusive environment, establish goals, plan tasks, and
meet objective.

Table 2: Schedule of assignments and class topics for both sections of EGR 100 taught in Fall 2022.

Week Reading Class Topics Weekly Assignment

1 Syllabus, Chapter 1 Course Introduction Individual: Self Identity
Introduction to CPX
2 Chapters 3, 4 Introduction to Group Project Team: Problem Definition
Design Objectives
3 Chapters 5, 6 Design Constraints Team: Constraints & Functions
Function Trees
4 Chapters 7, 8 Brainstorming techniques Team: Idea Generation & Evaluation
Evaluation Techniques
5 Chapter 9, 10 3D Modeling & Printing Team: Prototype
Coding with MakeCode
6 Chapter 11 Writing Accessible Documentation Team: Project 1 Documentation
Giving Technical Presentations
7 (none assigned) Group work time Team: Project 1 Presentation
Project 1 Showcase
8 Simulation-Based Engineering Coding with Python, Adding Servos Team: Project Timeline
Idea Generation & Evaluation
9 Chapter 15, 16 Project planning in Asana Team: Task Management
Prototype Testing
10 Chapters 13, 14 Engineering Economics Individual: Task Process Report
Design for Excellence
11 Universal Design Principles Project 2 Showcase Team: Project 2 Instructions & Presentation
12 DEI in Engineering Stereotype Threat Individual: Diversity in Engineering
Case Studies: Citicorp
13 Chapter 17 Case Studies: Surfside Individual: Case Study Responses
Challenger & Colombia
14 Engineering Careers Permission to Fail Panel Individual: Case Study Report
Engineering Applications
Final Ethics Presentations

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ICFET 2023, June 09–11, 2023, Bali, Indonesia
that you can encourage yourself and others when feeling discour-
aged about your place in STEM? This panel has been presenting to
EGR 100 students for a number of years and was not an addition
during the DEI initiative. However, the topics relate directly to DEI
considerations.
4 HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS
4.1 Self Identity
The first assignment asked students to identify themselves, as they
all come from different backgrounds. As a foundation for the writ-
ing assignment, students recommended to watch a talk by Temple
Grandin, a successful scientist with autism, titled “Different Kinds
of Minds Contribute to Society”2 . The following questions were
presented for the writing prompt:
1. What is the most important part of your identity? Share a
story that explains its significance to you.
2. Do you know how your mind works? Try to describe it.
3. You will be working in design teams this semester. Share some
strengths you bring to the team. What are areas of weaknesses
that may require you to rely on others?
From the answers to these questions, students opened their
hearts to identify themselves, showing their strengths and weak-
nesses, which would help the instructor to understand them and
assign group members accordingly. The following sample answer
showed how important it is to acknowledge the identity of a stu-
dent:
“The most important part of my identity is that I am a transgen-
der man. One story that explains the significance of this part of my
identity actually happened last week. I was in my Intro to Ed class
and we were talking about gender differences in the teaching field.
My group consisted of me, a guy, and a girl. As we were talking,
we got to a point where the girl was referencing how, because she
is a woman, she never realized the lack of men in the teaching field,
because it wasn’t something at the forefront of her mind. But she
asked me and this other guy how we felt because we were men and
probably had a different view on it. And just in that moment, the
fact that she acknowledged that I might see something differently
because I am a boy, really meant a lot to me. It didn’t matter that I
was transgender, my say to the conversation was just as important
as that of a man born as male. And that made me feel really good
about myself and made me feel confident in who I am."
“My mind works mostly in an "object visualizer" way. I know
this because I think a lot in metaphors and images that represent
the deeper thinking in my head. I like to explain my thoughts to
people through descriptions of the scenes playing in my head. That
is how things make the most sense to me.
“I do really well with artistic or creative aspects of group work
(whatever that may entail). I do struggle with more mathematical
or scientific thinking which I may need to get from my peers.”
This assignment replaced a previous reflection assignment that
focused on what the students perceived as their level preparation
for the course and techniques that they planned to employ to be
successful.
2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4ySgfFM7e4
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Weican Xiao and Jessica D. Ventura
4.2 Diversity in Engineering Reading
At the commencement of the module on engineering ethics, stu-
dents were assigned to read “How professional engineers can con-
tribute to attraction and retention of minority groups into the
engineering profession through equity, diversity, inclusion, and
decolonization efforts” and respond to the following questions:[8]
1. How do diversity, equity and inclusion in the engineering
profession tie to the engineering codes of conduct?
2. In what documented ways have diverse ethnic and gender
groups been unfairly treated in the engineering workforce?
Group and summarize the examples presented in the text into
your own words.
3. Briefly describe in your own words each of the 4 techniques
presented to improve equity and inclusion in the engineering
profession (one short paragraph each).
4. Consider your own place at Endicott and specifically in your
major. How do you identify yourself (consider gender, race,
social standing, economic status, etc.)? Do you consider
yourself to be in the majority or the minority among your
peers? What ways can you work to make sure that you and
your peers do better at acknowledging, listening to, and
including one another?
A major issue involved in ethical dilemmas in engineering relates
to valuing the lives of people impacted by a potential engineering
failure. Another is being willing to listen to concerns raised by
the public, the users, and the engineering design team [3]. Having
managers and employees who value diversity and include a range
of voices is an integral step in avoiding ethical infractions. The
assignment questions first assessed the students’ understanding
of key concepts in the article, and concluded with a question that
required them to reflect on how the things they read applied to
their own life and actions.
4.3 Universal Design Reading
During the redesign phase of the project, students were assigned
to read “The Principles of Universal Design” and briefly describe
the seven principles presented[7]. The principles were equitable
use, flexibility in use, simple and intuitive use, perceptible informa-
tion, tolerance for error, low physical effort, and size and space for
approach and use. During class time, teams were asked to review
their product designs and determine if there were simple ways to
make the product more accessible.
This reading assignment followed the chapter addressing design
for production, use, and sustainability in the class textbook[1] and
replaced the chapter addressing prototyping and proofing. Since
the students were building their own prototypes using electronics
kits, 3D printers, and craft supplies, the information provided in
the textbook about prototypes was less helpful than the details
about user needs in the newly assigned book section. The focus
was shifted from the physical construction of the product to the
ways the user might interact with the product. Because this reading
was assigned after students had already constructed a prototype, it
allowed them to proof its functionality and reflect on its features
in light of accessibility requirements.
Integrating Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Concepts into an Introductory Engineering Course ICFET 2023, June 09–11, 2023, Bali, Indonesia

4.4 Ethics Case Study Table 3: Topic choices presented to students for the ethics
case study
After learning about and discussing case studies in engineering
ethics presented in the textbook[1], students have traditionally
been required to study and present an ethics case study. Students Description Year
could work alone or in pairs and cases can be selected from a Sultana Steamship Explosion 1865
provided list (Table 3) or proposed by the student. This assignment Quebec Bridge Collapse 1907
was altered to require students to identify issues related to diversity, St Francis Dam Failure 1928
equity, and/or inclusion in their case. Some cases of designs that The Goodrich Airbrake Case 1967
were biased against certain races or genders were added to the list, Laurel Run Dam Failure 1977
as indicated in bold. Codes of ethics in engineering include DEI Harbor Cay Condominium Collapse 1981
concepts. For example, the ASCE code of ethics state that engineers The Aberdeen Three 1985
should “hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public, Sampoong Superstore Collapse 1995
“shall not compete unfairly with others” and “shall act in such a Airbag Design Flaw 1996
manner as to uphold and enhance the honor, integrity, and dignity Charles de Gaulle Airport Terminal Collapse 2004
of the engineering profession.” By asking students to define how Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill 2010
both an engineering code of ethics and DEI relate to their case, Fukushima Nuclear Disaster 2011
a deeper understanding of what these statements require can be Depuy Metal-on-Metal Hip Replacement 2013
learned and understood. Gene Edited Baby 2018
Boeing 737 Max Crash 2018
Merrimack Valley Gas Explosion 2018
5 END OF CLASS SURVEY Racism in Facial Recognition 2020
At the end of semester, students were asked to rate the following Heart Rate Sensors & Skin Tone 2021
statements using (0) Not at all, (1) To some extent, (2) To a moderate
extent and (3) To a great extent:
1. This class has presented concepts of diversity, equity, and
inclusion in engineering.
2. This class has helped me recognize the need for engineers to
honor human differences in their work.
3. This class has shown me the importance of engineers taking
action to advance equity and inclusion in their work.
4. This class has taught me the value of seeking out and
responding to diverse voices and viewpoints when making
engineering decisions.
5. This class has opened my eyes to worldviews and biases that
influence social inequality in engineering and product design.
6. This class has equipped me with methods to communicate in
a manner that acknowledges and respects the differences of
others.
7. This class has helped me function effectively on a team whose
members together provide leadership, create a collaborative
and inclusive environment, establish goals, plan tasks, and
meet objectives.
Twenty-three of 32 students responded to the survey. The av-
erage and standard deviation of the scores for each question is Figure 1: Average and standard deviation scores of the seven
shown in Figure 1. All of the questions scored 2 or higher with questions
relatively small standard deviations. In Figure 2, the frequency of
the score of each question is shown. Out of all questions, only the
final question received 0 score, indicating that teamwork still has 1. “I would have to say the last research project where I went
space to improve. The results show that most students agree that out into the web and researched the bias behind women car
the DEI education is achieved in the course to a moderate or great testing dummies. I did not know this was a problem until I
extent. Unfortunately, no baseline surveys were conducted with read about it and made a project on it. Now I know the
students enrolled in previous versions of EGR 100, so the value of history and the occurring problems of not using woman car
the alterations and additions cannot be assessed. test dummies.”
At the end of the survey was an optional free response question: 2. “When coming to this Intro to Engineering class, I had no idea
Describe which aspects of the course most impacted your growth that we were going to be talking about DEIB. I learned many
in the understanding and appreciation of DEIB in engineering. The things that will help with my engineering aspect.”
five responses from the class were: 3. “The aspect of the course that most impressed my growth in

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ICFET 2023, June 09–11, 2023, Bali, Indonesia Weican Xiao and Jessica D. Ventura

[5] Cheuk Yin Phipson Lee, Zhuohao Zhang, Jaylin Herskovitz, JooYoung Seo, and
Anhong Guo. 2022. Collabally: Accessible collaboration awareness in document
editing. In Proceedings of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing
Systems. 1–17.
[6] National Academy of Engineering, National Academies of Sciences Engineering,
and Medicine. 2018. Engineering Societies; Activities in Promoting Diversity and
Inclusion: Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief. The National Academies Press,
Washington, DC. https://doi.org/10.17226/25323
[7] M. F. Story. 2011. Universal Design Handbook (2nd ed.). McGraw-Hill.
[8] Jessica Vandenberghe. 2021. How professional engineers can contribute to attrac-
tion and retention of minority groups into the engineering profession through
equity, diversity, inclusion, and decolonization efforts. The Canadian Journal of
Chemical Engineering 99, 10 (2021), 2116–2123.

Figure 2: Frequency of each score

understanding and appreciation of DEIB in engineering was

the final project. This was because we were forced to look at
these issues to help us with our understanding.”
4. “Teaching about how it was lacking in case studies.”
5. “Group and teamwork have heavily impacted my growth in
the understanding and appreciation of DEIB in engineering.
It has allowed me to collaborate and get a new perspective on
engineering and ideas as a whole.”
Three of these responses mentioned the ethics report, where
students took ownership of a case study and reported it to the class.
This project was the final assignment that students completed be-
fore taking the survey, and therefore was likely forefront in their
mind. It was also their concluding work that allowed the students
to showcase their understanding of DEI, as they were not simply
receiving and responding to information but were gathering and
analyzing it through the lens of ethics and DEI.

6 CONCLUSION
A course that teaches the engineering design process inherently
teaches issues related to DEI. This pilot project to solidify the DEI
learning outcomes by altering a few class topics, reading assign-
ments, and team projects illustrates how DEI learning outcomes can
be strengthened and enhanced. There was very little interruption
to the previous teaching and learning methods, yet the students
reported a moderate to great extent of learning regarding DEI was
achieved.

REFERENCES
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criteria/criteria-for-accrediting-engineering-programs-2019-2020/
[3] Lena E Hall. 2004. Dictionary of multicultural psychology: Issues, terms, and concepts.
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[4] Justin L. Hess, Brent K. Jesiek, Andrew Whitehead, Andrew Katz, and Donna
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