A Review of Cultural Frameworks and their Influence on Engineering Identity Development

Culture has a tremendous influence on identity formation because it impacts behaviorally shaped norms and beliefs and defines interpersonal structures within a society. Due to globalization, culture can no longer be restricted to ethnicity or location Meanwhile, over the past decades researchers have increasingly focused on engineering education with a specific emphasis on professional identity formation. In the field of engineering education, identity has been shown as an indicator for academic and professional persistence. Thus, it is critical to enhance engineering education by preparing students as best possible in their identity development. To achieve this goal, it is crucial to understand how cultural characteristics impact engineering identity formation. Measuring culture is a complex process. Theoretical cultural frameworks are helpful tools in analyzing and understanding the different aspects that comprise culture. This paper undertakes a comprehensive literature review to study different cultural frameworks, such as Geert Hofstede's six cultural dimensions, Edward T. Hall's three cultural dimensions, GLOBE's nine cultural dimensions, and others, to evaluate their potential use in further exploring engineering identity formation. This study provides a comprehensive breakdown of the critical cultural measures that are viewed as impactful in better understanding professional identity formation. This paper is relevant to researchers and practitioners in engineering education and technical management because it lays out a historical foundation for different cultural frameworks.