Beyond a Shadow of Doubt: Making a Case for Humanities and Social Sciences in Higher Education

Department of Language & Communication, M L Sultun Technikon, South Africa

Kewords: Technikon, South Africa, Communication course, module, Humanities and Social Sciences, employment, workplace skills, vocational.

Article style and source: Peer Reviewed. Original ultiBASE publication.

Contents

• Abstract
• Introduction
• Competency- based vs lifelong learning
• Humanities & social sciences in higher education - why?
• Ethics in the workplace
• How do we achieve this?
• Example of lecture themes
• Conclusion
• References

Abstract

Introduction

Competency- based vs lifelong learning

My research concluded that employees must also concern themselves with professional development, establishing a position of trust in respect of relating technical skills to the needs of the profession and to society at large. In this regard the words of Frey and Finan (1991: 466) must be noted: "The purpose of a university is to develop a rounded personality while providing the student with a general academic background." In the case of the engineering profession the words of Boileau (1989: 88), who cites the work of Mathes, must be noted wherein it is argued that "communication may be the engineer’s primary social responsibility." Since the engineer belongs to a profession whose objective is to improve the conditions of human life by changing the physical environment and the systems of human life, the engineer has a great responsibility to society. Rumbaugh Jr & Max (1999) also reinforce the social responsibility of employees in that they have to relate to the general public in order to maximise the value of technology and that they cannot just rely on their technical competence for success.

According to a report by the Association of American Colleges on Integrity in the College Curriculum; A Report to the Academic Community (1985), apart from being technically competent, it is important that employees be able to ask important questions that affect their survival in society. (Donald, 1991:190) summarizes what experts consider engineering expertise to be: "engineers have to solve problems which are open-ended. ...Engineers need to be able to verbalise and to be able to convince others even tho’ others do not understand the technical language." Innovation, initiative, problem-solving and providing meaningful feedback all hinge on effective communication skills. Because the ways in which people communicate strongly influence a team’s potential for success, "effective communication should be considered the foundation on which other teamwork skills such as leadership, problem-solving, conflict resolution, interpersonal relations and task orientated productivity skills are constructed" (Carnevale, 1990: 337). Developing transferable and market related skills in our students may enable them to secure employment, but may not enable them to develop the ability to critique current cognitive frameworks or dominant models of culture. Furthermore, courses where academic competence is seen as paramount may encourage students to continue to acquire vast amounts of knowledge with a view that this is what will enhance their knowledge and understanding of the world. What is required instead is recognising, valuing and questioning different forms of knowledge. This will force students to interrogate the theories and cultures that underpin the very disciplines in which they learn and whose boundaries they will be expected to respect as professionals (Savin-Baden, 1998).

Thompson (1996) highlights two important perspectives in terms of the educational goals of communicative competence: the ability to use language to succeed in the workplace and social critique (the ability to question existing social structures and to envision cultural change). Communicative competence refers to learning how to use the language sanctioned by the workplace effectively, whereas social critique refers to learning ideological problem posing and critical reflection to bring about resistance to the status quo and a need for social change. According to Thompson, instructors who emphasize social critique assume that education should lead social change and hence should shape society. Instructors who emphasize communicative competence assume that education reflects and hence should be shaped by society. I believe that an attempt must be made to integrate these vastly different educational goals in higher education. Thompson identified four pedagogical perspectives: functional, rhetorical, ideological, intercultural and feminist. The functional perspective emphasizes enhancement of communicative competence, the rhetorical and ideological is concerned with social or personal critique and the intercultural and feminist perspective emphasizes both competence and critique as important educational goals in engineering. The rhetorical perspective seems to presume that the workplace can benefit more from learning the ways of the humanities than the humanities can benefit from observing and imitating the ways of the workplace. We should teach our students how to interpret shared assumptions and values of a professional community and apply them to solve its practical problems in ways that serve public needs. We should be as much concerned with changing attitudes and increasing cultural awareness as we are with enhancing communicative and technical competence. back

Humanities & social sciences in higher education - why?

Humanities education is a means for broadening the intellect and enhancing the imagination, not for instilling virtue (Thompson, 1996). The humanities can benefit individuals by making them culturally critical and by giving them the vision for defining a new society. While graduates may be quite technically savvy, sometimes they lack training in the science of ‘soft skills’. Watts (1996), believes that the incorporation of social sciences and humanities modules/courses within an undergraduate curriculum goes a long way in producing employment-ready graduates with creative, problem-solving and reflective practice skills who are adaptable and able to work across a range of public, private and community- based organizations. An employee needs to know theories and principles, but there is no exact science to securing a job. Science can fix these problems but you need to apply it with a soft skills touch, and that is where the social sciences and humanities come in. "And there’s nothing soft about that" says Tim O’ Shea (1998 : 1).

According to Parr, Yates & Yasukawa, (1997), employees in their pursuit of specialist technical knowledge, have allowed themselves to become disengaged from the mainstream debate on such fundamental questions of what it means to be human and how we should live. The full scope of the social responsibility of employees has been seriously curtailed and hence impaired by the socially, intellectually and culturally subordinate role they play in modern society. The time has come for the humanist and the technologist to join forces and provide the new generation of students with the tools necessary for a productive and rewarding career in the global workplace. According to (Grandin, 1988: 7), "engineers are not difficult to find and hire, but engineers with appropriate communication, social and intercultural skills are a rarity". Mainwaring and Markowski (1991), believe that behind every activity, including the scientific and technical, is a human being whose motivation and behaviour is shaped by society, its political and economic structure, its cultural ethos and value system. Even those who rebel against it, do it in the context of this framework. Undergraduate students and their advisors in many institutions in the United States are provided with a handbook to help improve the quality and coherence of the humanities and social science components of undergraduate education. In the case of Engineering. the handbook has been prepared with the cooperation of ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology), the nationally recognised accrediting agency for engineering programmes (Report: An Engineering Students Guide to Humanities and Social Sciences, 1988).

Communication courses provide an excellent base for professional growth. The further employees move in their careers, the more likely they are to need the skills and abilities associated with the humanities and social sciences. Employees could become supervisors - a role in which they need to be able to synthesize, see things holistically, and deal effectively with people. They are called upon more and more to communicate clearly and persuasively, in directing project teams or making presentations to clients. The broader their responsibilities, the more likely it is that they will need to explain their work to people who are not necessarily in the same profession, and to do that they need to understand non-specific perspectives, for example, the ability to work with people, to understand and respond to their needs and concerns and to communicate their ideas clearly and in a way that generates interest and excitement. The ability to lead a team, manage a project and exercise judgement, are the kinds of things needed to move ahead in industry.. Managing other people, cross functional teams, clear, concise, fast written report generation, scheduling of human resources (maximizing team efficiency and speed vs technical mentoring and education for team members), managing the ‘political’ environment, representing the team to management in the informal/unstructured arena of meetings and offices - all require excellent communication, social and human relation skills. When someone with no technological knowledge but lots of power tries to make technological decisions, it is hard not to show irritation. Political manipulation of others is the very opposite of what comes naturally to those in a team-oriented environment. Courses/modules in the social sciences and humanities would expose students to ethical and social issues, train them to make sound decisions and most important teach them to think critically and argue persuasively. By integrating these skills with technological competence employees would be able to play a leadership role in solving the profound problems facing the 21^st century.

Employees frequently lack education in the basic concepts of the humanities, a deficiency that makes decision-making more difficult and which can inadvertently result in decisions made without considering all facets of an issue. If employees are to serve society, they must understand its nature in order to provide the best service. Engineers should be encouraged to gain this added education and experience during their early or middle career stages. This ensures that the needed skills are not lacking when the stage of policy setting and programme making is reached. Making the possession of these skills a recognized outcome in undergraduate curriculum design would ensure that modules/courses in the social sciences and humanities are included. These courses may also be able to sharpen the students’ critical thinking skills and can help develop learning and decision-making skills. Furthermore, humanities and social sciences are also widely valued as a way for developing skills of clear, persuasive communication. These skills are essential at a time when the workplace is more a group enterprise and team effort than ever before, and when employees must increasingly explain their work to consumers, environmentalists, legislators and members of the press in order to achieve their professional aim.

Many technical problems are also social problems and an ability to confront them is an increasingly necessary part of the professional training of employees. Furthermore, courses in the humanities and social sciences can help prepare workers for careers in management, for public office and for other forms of leadership roles. (Johnston et al, 1988), believes that employees should be especially well equipped for public office and participation in society’s highest councils, where they might not only help ensure informed public decision making on technological, social and educational issues, but win increased public esteem and influence for their profession as well. In the 21^st century technology will give employees a more central role in society. It seems reasonable to conclude that the humanities and social sciences should be an increasingly critical part of higher education. All students, regardless of the particular education or training career they follow should learn the challenge of relating science and technology to social needs and social issues. A new system of higher education will fall short of its desirable and necessary objectives unless it broadens its base to include more social science and humanities as a foundation for a professional career. The rationale for including the humanities and social sciences in undergraduate programmes is that one is a human being first and then an employee, and to be human is to encounter experiences which go beyond the realms of technological and scientific paradigms. back

Ethics in the workplace

Shaw (1998) sees the language of ethics and the language of communication as synonymous. He believes that if codes are important communication instruments, then unethical behaviour must be seen not only as a breach of moral order, but as an ineffective or unpersuasive communication of values, norms or injunctions. The failure of the codes according to Shaw can mean only one thing, the means of communication are not sufficient to the task. He stresses that in our eagerness to pin the blame on someone, thereby separating moral or ethical failures from failures in communication, we limit our view of communication in its organisational context to something only embodied in codes or their equivalent. Shaw is of the opinion that people are in the habit of excusing personal behaviour by placing the blame on communication problems. The way we understand these problems become a central question, and we fail utterly in answering the question if we continue to see the practice of ethics and the job of communication as separate topics.

Ethical communication means understanding and developing the values of the community in which we live and work. Since ethical behaviour is not merely a matter of acting correctly and doing good deeds, the role of communication both outside and inside the organisation is not the medium for expressing a high moral tone, but the vehicle through which we come to share an understanding about issues which concern us. The social science and humanity courses will help to develop each student’s awareness of communication ethics and provide the student with an effective means of arriving at decisions which reflect high moral and ethical standards. Class discussions and projects should emphasize ethical practices when making decisions and reporting information. In Fishs’ (1991) Professional Artistry Model, teaching is seen as a practical art. It stresses understanding rather than technical skills and takes a holistic approach to skills and knowledge involved. In terms of accountability, this model stresses moral rather than purely technical accountability, that is, it believes that professionals should consider and be accountable for the ends or goals, as well as the technical means of their professional activities. This model views knowledge as temporary, dynamic and problematic rather than absolute and permanent. The model stresses investigation and reflection on practice, and its view of research is that of action research, that is, it sees the practitioner as continually investigating his/her own practice. This involves work in the humanistic rather than the scientific paradigm. This model accepts professional behaviour as self-regulating and minimises the control mechanisms, relying on reflection rather than appraisal, professional conscience rather than inspection or validation. This model supports the view of professionals deserving a certain autonomy as a result of their knowledge and moral responsibility.

Future employees will not just be highly skilled researchers, designers and developers. They also will need to become skilled thinkers, well versed in the potential ramifications of the technology that they create. Ajluni (1999 : 22) maintains that "Technology is a tool. A neutral tool. It can serve the forces of creation or destruction with equal facility. ... the extensive knowledge of how to use this tool that comes with an engineering degree also carries with it a tremendous (and sometimes frightening) responsibility. Used incorrectly technology can mean anything from a single minor injury to genocide". A report from the National Research Councils Committee on Education and Utilization of the Engineer calls for inclusion of ethics and professionalism in engineering education training (Pennoni, 1993). In this regard Fairweather (1991) profiles Chuck Pennoni, 123^rd ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers) president who emphasized professionalism and ethics in engineering education. Whereas the politician and advertiser will employ emotive phrases and disinformation to achieve their objectives, the engineer, is professionally bound to maintain total integrity in her/his communication. Herein lies her/his value to society, for it often happens that, as one who possesses specialized knowledge and preserves one’s integrity, one becomes the agent whereby disputes, superstitions, fears and emotional situations are diffused. To do this, the engineer has to communicate truthfully, convincingly, unambiguously, and with sound logic. back

How do we achive this?

The present engineering education, for example, which allows engineers to perform very skilfully in the realm of technical problems does not prepare them to integrate socio-economic and environmental concerns efficiently into their activities. However, knowing the impacts of technology on our socio-economic and natural environments, better preparation of our student engineers to integrate such concerns into their future professional decisions should receive priority within engineering education. How can this be achieved? It is necessary to adopt a multi-disciplinary approach to the problems that the students have to solve during their studies. In particular, economic, ecological and social aspects should be analysed whenever possible in project work and assignments. Effort should be made towards the organising of seminars / projects where engineering students would be actively involved in the identification and/or analysis of the existing interactions between technology, society and the environment with an emphasis on the ethical ramifications on decisions taken.

In response to the National Review of Engineering Education, UTS (University Technology Sydney) made the following changes; a more holistic curriculum is offered to the engineering students by way of the following modules: Engineering Through History and Towards Sustainable Futures, Uncertainties and Risks in Engineering, Engineering Management and Technology Assessment. At the university of Louvain, France, the engineering programme is five years - the first two years are dedicated to basic sciences and non-technical matters and the remaining years to engineering subjects. Its objectives consist of analysing the issues generated by the interactions between technology, society and the environment, and to stress in particular the ethical implications of these interactions.

In the first part lectures, seminars and debates are presented by invited speakers who have various distinct education expertise in, for example, (Sociology, Philosophy, Economics, etc) and working experiences in various environments. The aim of this part of the programme is the enhancement of the students’ awareness towards environmental issues and their relationships with respect to technical, economic, cultural and social aspects. During these lectures / seminars the following aspects are highlighted: the existence of many players and/or involved decision-makers who have different value systems and priorities, the existence of unavoidable ethical dilemmas such as risk vs security or long-term vs short-term well-being, the need to consider an interdisciplinary approach towards the solutions of these dilemmas (not only technical) approach, the existence of strategies that may be remedial or may be preventative for example, waste reduction strategies vs waste-treatment strategies.

In the second part, a list of possible themes or issues is proposed to the students. These themes are chosen to support an intensive thinking process by the students, involving ethical as well as value aspects. The students work in small groups (4-5), and have to produce a written report on the theme that they have selected. Finally, an oral presentation and discussion of the report is organised, to which professionals from industry are invited. Other suggestions for improving the preparation of engineering students as far as social sciences and humanities are concerned are: organising mini-colloquiums, where students who have produced theses/assignments/projects/models related to the impact of technology on the environment would present their results to the community. Engineering departments could also invite guest lecturers from other departments or faculties either from ones own institution or from another institution for example Sociology, Philosophy, Communication etc. back

Example of lecture themes

• the impact of technology on culture
• risk-taking and political decision-making
• difference between an acceptable risk and an assessed risk
• environmental ethics, social ethics and business ethics (Installe, 1996) back

Conclusion

References

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About the author

E-mail: narsees@wpo.mlsultan.ac.za

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