Be yourself - be an engineer: personal strengths and value in an interconnected engineering ecosystem
Paper in proceeding, 2026

Engineers need to connect knowledge, based on science and technology, with knowledge about humans and society. To operate in a sociotechnical context a variety of different people with different skills are needed. This paper argues that therein lies an opportunity for all who have the skills and interests to find a fulfilling role in engineering that aligns interests in technical task, their role, their identity, their personal strengths and their values, illustrated by women in engineering and sustainability.

socio-technical systems

engineering skills

sustainability

designer's skills

designer's attitudes

Author

Claudia Eckert

The Open University

Chalmers, Industrial and Materials Science

Sophie Isaksson Hallstedt

Chalmers, Industrial and Materials Science, Product Development

Proceedings of the International Conference on Engineering Design, ICED

2732527x (eISSN)

Vol. 6 347-356

19th International Design Conference, DESIGN 2026
Dubrovnik, Croatia,

Gender Initiative for Excellence (Genie)

The Chalmers University Foundation, 2019-01-01 -- 2028-12-31.

Driving Forces

Sustainable development

Areas of Advance

Production

Subject Categories (SSIF 2025)

Human Geography

Social Anthropology

Gender Studies

DOI

10.1017/pds.2026.10393

More information

Latest update

9/25/2026