Barriers to Distal Interdisciplinarity in Engineering Faculty: Qualitative Insights from a Social Network Analysis Study

Abstract

Engineering education increasingly calls for interdisciplinary practice that brings together social, cultural, and institutional perspectives alongside technical analysis. Faculty collaboration patterns play a central role in shaping how such co-consideration is modelled for students, yet less is known about how engineering faculty themselves explain barriers to interdisciplinary engagement. This study examines qualitative reflections from forty three faculty members in a Canadian College of Engineering, situated within a broader social network analysis of collaboration patterns. Open-ended survey responses were analysed using a hybrid inductive deductive content analysis. Four interrelated barriers were identified: beliefs about collaborative value, communication and comfort across disciplinary distance, funding and resource constraints, and institutional and network access barriers. Communication emerged as a cross-cutting condition embedded within all four. Findings suggest that communication challenges reflect institutional and relational conditions rather than individual skill deficits, with implications for how socio technical incorporation is enacted and taught in engineering programs.