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Exploring Disciplinary Technologies for Increased Accessibility in the Civil Engineering and Construction Industry: Starting the Conversation

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Advances in the Human Side of Service Engineering (AHFE 2021)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems ((LNNS,volume 266))

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Abstract

Due to an aging workforce and national recruitment initiatives, the number of individuals with disabilities in the civil engineering and construction industries is expected to increase. However, little work has examined existing access barriers that discourage disabled and aging individuals from entering into or remaining in the civil engineering and construction fields, with the majority of extant work focusing on individual accommodation. In this paper, we explore the ways existing and emerging workplace technologies that are reshaping disciplinary norms also improve the overall workplace accessibility in civil engineering and construction. Specifically, we focus our discussion on three technologies impacting civil engineering and construction: drones, augmented reality, and prefabricated and modular construction. In this discussion, we introduce points of alignment observed across these technologies and disability studies perspectives and conclude with identifying areas for future work and considerations for industry for creating universally accessible environments without perpetuating colonizing or ableist ideals of workplace participation.

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Acknowledgments

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Award No. 1733636. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Engineering Education Department, Utah State University, 4160 Old Main Hill Rd, Logan, UT, 84322, USA

    Cassandra McCall

  2. Department of Civil and Coastal Engineering, University of Florida, 365 Weil Hall, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA

    Denise R. Simmons

Authors
  1. Cassandra McCall
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  2. Denise R. Simmons
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Cassandra McCall .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Economics and Public Administration, London, UK

    Christine Leitner

  2. Fraunhofer IAO, Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

    Walter Ganz

  3. California State University, Orange, CA, USA

    Debra Satterfield

  4. University of Naples Parthenope, Avellino, Italy

    Clara Bassano

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McCall, C., Simmons, D.R. (2021). Exploring Disciplinary Technologies for Increased Accessibility in the Civil Engineering and Construction Industry: Starting the Conversation. In: Leitner, C., Ganz, W., Satterfield, D., Bassano, C. (eds) Advances in the Human Side of Service Engineering. AHFE 2021. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 266. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-80840-2_38

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-80840-2_38

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-80839-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-80840-2

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