Analyzing the intersections of institutional and discourse identities in engineering work at the local level

Abstract

In this study, we examine the ways in which engineering identities are constructed through language by both student and professional engineers and their colleagues in practice. Drawing on the work of James Gee, we explore the ways that discourse both reflects and shapes engineering work, and thus engineering identity, in particular local contexts. In particular, we explore the ways multiple dimensions of identity interact in daily work by examining the ways institutional identities afforded by local contexts intersect with the discursive identities enacted in social processes. Intended as a complement to research in both science, technology, and society and writing studies that seeks general patterns of identity across engineering, this paired case study examines the ways in which engineers describe and enact their work differently in response to different local institutional and discursive contexts. Gee's framework, with its attention to identities as they are constructed in specific social interactions, helps complicate discussions of engineering identity by focusing on ways engineers accept, resist, and subvert a variety of identities through language.

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