March 27 - Slaton

This one really got me thinking. I couldn't quite figure out a way in which I would respond to these readings, so my best shot is at looking into the questions that it brings to my mind -- and try to ask some of them to her on Tuesday.

I remember the beginning of the semester, when we were discussing technology instruction a while ago. It became clear to me that, having the resources available to everyone doesn't necessarily make people perform equally -- or, at least, reduce the gap between less educated students. Quite the opposite: by introducing another layer of information between teachers and students, those who are able to deal with this extra layer -- educational software, for instance -- will perform better, and the limited time in classroom will not be enough to bridge the distance between middle class and economically disadvantaged students.

For me, it seems logical that, for a profession that requires intellectual skills that, technically, cannot be acquired while in college, but instead should have been cultivated from the early schooling years, those who received better education will be far more suited. The group in question is the upper middle class, mostly white and male. Affirmative action initiatives will bring black students to Engineering school, but will not provide them the intellectual abilities they should have to perform well. That being said, the numbers of white and black Engineers is not much different from the numbers of other social numbers, such as access to health services, jobs, etc etc etc.

But then, in the end, my first question to Slaton would be: are you in favor of affirmative action initiatives in engineering colleges?

Then, I guess my other question would regard the social role of engineers. She mentions the fact that engineering work is such a technical task that, regardless of who is doing it, the result is what it's mostly about. I would say that whoever designed some of the buildings in the 'banlieues' of Paris certainly did not grow up in one of them.