We need to talk about engineering policy

The governance of engineering, unlike science, is rarely discussed in the academy. We analyse this issue in relation to the prevalence of the term 'engineering policy' in contrast to 'science policy' as a means of demonstrating the nature of the different treatment of these concepts inside the academy and outside. We show that 'engineering policy' as a term has almost no academic inquiry relative to science policy, and that even 'engineering' is marginalised in critical social science domains like Science and Technology Studies, as others have noted. Further, we extend this exploration with regard to the visibility of engineering policy in practice communities where it ought to be visible but isn't. Specifically, we use the UK government and governance communities as a space to show how engineering and policy for engineering remain side-lined in policy practice. Given how central engineering is to society, the obscurity of its governance mechanisms and the absence of critical scrutiny of engineering policy, we propose a research and action agenda as a means of stimulating action and coalescing a community of stakeholders to redress this situation with some urgency.

Automated summary

The governance of engineering is seldom discussed in academia, unlike science. In this study, we compare the prevalence of the term 'engineering policy' with 'science policy' to demonstrate the differential treatment of these concepts within and outside of the academy. Our analysis shows that there is significantly less academic inquiry on 'engineering policy' compared to 'science policy'. Additionally, engineering is marginalized in critical social science domains such as Science and Technology Studies. We also address the lack of visibility of engineering policy in practice communities and highlight how engineering and policy for engineering remain sidelined in policy practice, using the UK government and governance communities as an example. Given the importance of engineering to society, the scarcity of research and critical scrutiny on engineering policy, we propose a research and action agenda to stimulate action and bring together stakeholders to address this issue urgently.