Can the University Escape from the Labyrinth of Technology? Part 1: Rethinking the Intellectual and Professional Division of Labor and Its Knowledge Infrastructure

Autor/in	Vanderburg, Willem H.
Titel	Can the University Escape from the Labyrinth of Technology? Part 1: Rethinking the Intellectual and Professional Division of Labor and Its Knowledge Infrastructure
Quelle	In: Bulletin of Science, Technology and Society, 26 (2006) 3, S.171-177 (7 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0270-4676
DOI	10.1177/0270467606289196
Schlagwörter	Engineering Education; Social Sciences; Science and Society; Decision Making; Technical Education; Universities; Technological Advancement; Higher Education; Knowledge Level; Professional Education; Economic Factors; Labor Force; Foreign Countries; Canada + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Ingenieurausbildung; Social science; Sozialwissenschaften; Gesellschaftswissenschaften; Decision-making; Entscheidungsfindung; Technikunterricht; University; Universität; Technological development; Technologische Entwicklung; Hochschulbildung; Hochschulsystem; Hochschulwesen; Wissensbasis; Berufsausbildung; Ökonomischer Faktor; Labour force; Arbeitskraft; Erwerbsbevölkerung; Ausland; Kanada
Abstract	The role tradition played in preindustrial societies has been supplanted by the decisions of countless specialists organized by means of an intellectual and professional division of labor shaping a knowledge infrastructure that sustains these decisions. Three limitations of this knowledge system are discussed: (a) on the macrolevel, it imposes an end-of-pipe approach for dealing with the undesired consequences of decision making, rarely getting to the root of any problem; (b) on the microlevel, individual practitioners of a specialty are trapped in a triple abstraction, leading to a poor ratio of desired to undesired effects of their decision making; and (c) on the intermediate level, it bars the road to genuine solutions to many difficulties faced by contemporary civilization. In this first of four articles, the beginning of a response is developed for the profession of engineering, which will be paradigmatic for other professions, the social sciences, and the university as a whole. [For Part 2, see EJ736652.] (Author).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10