| This study examined the identity process of becoming an engineer, as well as the phenomenon of socially responsible leadership as understood by cooperative engineering students. The experience of cooperative education was selected due to its multi-level context. Students were not asked specific questions about the effect or influence of their cooperative experience on their perspectives per se, however, as cooperative education students it was believed that they had multiple frames of reference from which to describe their emerging identity as engineers because they had more than classroom learning.;As The Engineer of 2020 calls for future engineers to be prepared to serve in leadership roles, to be global citizens, and to be ethically grounded (National Academy of Engineering, 2004), it is a critical time to explore the phenomenon of socially responsible leadership as it relates to what it means to be an engineer. The definition of social responsibility for this study is a personal commitment to the well-being of people, a shared world, and the public at large (Berman and LaFarge, 1993, p.7; Komives, et al., 1998, p.15). This qualitative study of ten cooperative engineering students used a constructivist approach to data collection because of the interest in understanding students' meaning making about becoming an engineer, and the influence of socially responsible leadership behavior.;The findings reflected the emerging identity of what it means to become an engineer including: the importance of service to the profession and the community, as well as ethics in their own decision-making processes. Individuals attempted to balance these different aspects of expectations upon them, but, sometime struggled to find their voice regarding their own values, especially in their current student status. Participants identified three levels of understanding regarding socially responsible leadership including: one's individual identity, relationship to others, and connection to the community. They shared characteristics and aspects of social responsibility and leadership from their engineering perspective, even though the terms "social responsibility" and "leadership" were not familiar to them. The themes that emerged included aspects of identity development, professional competency, the identification of socially responsible behavior, and the ability to make sense of leadership. |
