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Nurturing Transformational Resistance: How Humanitarian Engineering Education Shapes Students' Capacity to Challenge Systemic Inequality

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Title: Nurturing Transformational Resistance: How Humanitarian Engineering Education Shapes Students' Capacity to Challenge Systemic Inequality
Language: English
Authors: Emma Stine (ORCID 0000-0003-0822-9937), Amy Javernick-Will (ORCID 0000-0002-3933-2614), Tiera Tanksley (ORCID 0000-0002-6595-0440)
Source: Journal of Engineering Education. 2026 115(2).
Availability: Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 24
Publication Date: 2026
Sponsoring Agency: National Science Foundation (NSF)
Contract Number: 2140601
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Postsecondary Education
Descriptors: Engineering Education, Social Justice, Social Responsibility, Graduate Students, Social Change, Resistance (Psychology), Humanization, Systems Approach
DOI: 10.1002/jee.70059
ISSN: 1069-4730
2168-9830
Abstract: Background: Humanitarian engineering (HE) education programs train students to work alongside marginalized communities to improve infrastructure and technology disparities. However, the impact of HE education on students' capacity to challenge systemic inequality is unclear. The transformational resistance framework (TRF) can illuminate how education shapes students' seeds of resistance--their emerging ability to identify inequitable systems in their work and engage in oppositional behaviors that resist, subvert, and transform these systems. Purpose: This study explores how HE students develop seeds of resistance to systemic inequality and how HE graduate education influences this development. Design/Method: We conducted 164 interviews with 46 students from seven US-based HE graduate programs over 2 years, focusing on their educational experiences, views on social justice and inequality, and career goals. To analyze the data, we used a grounded theory approach informed by the principles of TRF. Results: This research revealed patterns in the engineering practices that students engaged in as they began learning about and identifying inequitable systems and structures: some engineering practices stifled their resistance capacity (such as students maintaining emotional, physical, and social distance from project impacts), while others nurtured their resistance capacity (such as students using multidisciplinary perspectives on social good to analyze and improve HE practices). These engineering practices emerged as school policies, curricula, and cultural norms influenced students' responses to the inequitable systems they encountered. Conclusions: This work contributes to understanding the relationship between HE education and students' ability to challenge inequitable systems in engineering.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2026
Accession Number: EJ1504405
Database: ERIC
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  Data: Nurturing Transformational Resistance: How Humanitarian Engineering Education Shapes Students' Capacity to Challenge Systemic Inequality
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Emma+Stine%22">Emma Stine</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0822-9937">0000-0003-0822-9937</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Amy+Javernick-Will%22">Amy Javernick-Will</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3933-2614">0000-0002-3933-2614</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Tiera+Tanksley%22">Tiera Tanksley</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6595-0440">0000-0002-6595-0440</externalLink>)
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22Journal+of+Engineering+Education%22"><i>Journal of Engineering Education</i></searchLink>. 2026 115(2).
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  Data: Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us
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  Data: 24
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Higher+Education%22">Higher Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Postsecondary+Education%22">Postsecondary Education</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Engineering+Education%22">Engineering Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Social+Justice%22">Social Justice</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Social+Responsibility%22">Social Responsibility</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Graduate+Students%22">Graduate Students</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Social+Change%22">Social Change</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Resistance+%28Psychology%29%22">Resistance (Psychology)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Humanization%22">Humanization</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Systems+Approach%22">Systems Approach</searchLink>
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  Data: 10.1002/jee.70059
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  Data: 1069-4730<br />2168-9830
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
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  Data: Background: Humanitarian engineering (HE) education programs train students to work alongside marginalized communities to improve infrastructure and technology disparities. However, the impact of HE education on students' capacity to challenge systemic inequality is unclear. The transformational resistance framework (TRF) can illuminate how education shapes students' seeds of resistance--their emerging ability to identify inequitable systems in their work and engage in oppositional behaviors that resist, subvert, and transform these systems. Purpose: This study explores how HE students develop seeds of resistance to systemic inequality and how HE graduate education influences this development. Design/Method: We conducted 164 interviews with 46 students from seven US-based HE graduate programs over 2 years, focusing on their educational experiences, views on social justice and inequality, and career goals. To analyze the data, we used a grounded theory approach informed by the principles of TRF. Results: This research revealed patterns in the engineering practices that students engaged in as they began learning about and identifying inequitable systems and structures: some engineering practices stifled their resistance capacity (such as students maintaining emotional, physical, and social distance from project impacts), while others nurtured their resistance capacity (such as students using multidisciplinary perspectives on social good to analyze and improve HE practices). These engineering practices emerged as school policies, curricula, and cultural norms influenced students' responses to the inequitable systems they encountered. Conclusions: This work contributes to understanding the relationship between HE education and students' ability to challenge inequitable systems in engineering.
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