An EDI engineering employability toolkit to aid engineering student progression

Society 5.0, an initiative that aims to reduce inequalities, however disparities in engineering employment for ethnic minorities, females, LGBTQ+, and low socioeconomic engineering students persist (McWhinnie and Peters, 2012; Mellors-Bourne, 2016; Nortcliffe et al., 2019; Engineering UK, 2019; Parutis et al., 2020). AI-driven recruitment systems, discussed by Njoto et al. (2022) and Dastin (2022), encode minority and gender bias, aggravating the issue and leading to the loss of female and global majority (BAME (Black and Asian Minority Ethnic) engineering talent to graduate roles outside the sector (Engineering UK, 2019).

Canterbury Christ Church University has responded to this challenge by establishing a new Equality, Diversity, and Inclusive (EDI) engineering, design, and technology education provision. This initiative aims to create an EDI 'industry-ready' talent pipeline, addressing regional skills gaps (Kent County Council, 2022; Southeast Local Enterprise Partnership, 2021). Additionally, this initiative supports regional economic growth, as diverse teams have been shown to achieve (Martins, 2020). Consequently, there is a pressing need for an Equality, Diversity, and Inclusive (EDI) engineering employability learning toolkit. This toolkit seeks to enhance the social capital and employability of female, global majority, and low socioeconomic students in engineering, enabling all students to secure meaningful engineering employment and educating the next generation of engineering recruiters. The toolkit builds upon previous research and development of the Canterbury Christ Church University Future 360 Framework (Employment toolkit), incorporating the Graduate Capital Model (Tomlinson, 2017), the internship framework (Shawcross and Ridgman, 2014), and principles of social capital learning (Brown et al., 2014).

Quantitative results from the initial project, involving 100 employers, highlighted that the majority of business enterprises (small, medium, and large) employing engineers and computing graduates have an EDI policy in place and are working in practice (Fanusie et al, 2024). However, these employers expressed as part of continuous improvements process more EDI training. They also observed that students/graduates need further development in understanding EDI in the workplace (Fanusie et al, 2024). The initial qualitative project research results with students have underscored the need to improve enterprise communication between junior and senior staff. Therefore, there is a necessity to develop allyship and reverse mentoring within organizations (Fanusie et al, 2023). As a response, the project has identified a potential tool for the toolkit—a computer game. This game aims to develop students' EDI understanding in the workplace and enhance their allyship skills as future-generation engineering managers. Moreover, the tool could support the development of junior and senior staff understanding of EDI and allyship in the workplace.

Drawing on the educational potential of video games, as demonstrated by Wulansari et al. (2020), and considering the preliminary positive results from Vilches et al.'s (2023) research into the use of computer games to develop empathy towards individuals with disabilities, a computer game has the potential to be a valuable addition to the EDI Employability toolkit. This paper will present the initial results of the development of the computer game tool and the reflections of engineering students on its efficacy.

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