Faculty reactions to globalization and NAFTA in selected engineering departments in a northern Mexican urban area

Abstract

This dissertation presents a qualitative study examining faculty reactions to globalization and NAFTA in selected engineering departments in a Northern Mexican urban area. The dissertation provides an overview of the history of engineer training in Mexico, and how past presidential administrations' policies affected engineer training. The literature review also provides an overview of the theories utilized in the analysis of the data. The theoretical perspective of World System Theory as presented by Wallerstein, and Dependency Theory in Higher Education as presented by Altbach were the two primary theories utilized along with other theoretical perspectives that pertain to globalization. Mexican writers such as Gonzalez Sousa and Louvier Calderon, were presented as two varied perspectives of resistance to globalization. Faculty members from three universities were interviewed regarding issues of influence from core nations on the instructional and training activities in their departments. The perceptions of faculty members were recorded, transcribed and then analyzed. Major themes emerged regarding issues of international influence on local industry and business that in turn affected these departments, the use of academic resources from other countries, and resistance to globalization on the part of these faculty members.