The Conceptualization of Safety: A Comparative Study of Students and Practitioners in Process Safety

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18260/2-1-370.660-139788

Keywords:

Process Safety, Industrial Relations, Qualitative Methods of Engineering Educational Scholarship, Undergraduate Students

Abstract

Chemical engineers are required to make process safety judgments that balance multiple criteria, however, undergraduate students may be learning process safety in a context-free environment that is not preparing them for the complexity of these judgments. In this study, we compare how students and practitioners conceptualize safety in relation to other criteria when making process safety judgments to identify potential opportunities to improve process safety education.

Author Biographies

Brittany Butler-Morton, Rowan University, United States

Brittany Butler-Morton, PhD, recently completed her doctorate in Engineering Education at Rowan University. Her research focuses on identifying how the Theory-to-Practice gap may be manifesting in process safety based on differences in the way chemical engineering students and industry professionals approach process safety judgments, and developing instructional methods that expose students to the contexts surrounding judgments made in process safety incidents.

Corresponding author: butlerb0@rowan.edu

Cayla Ritz, Rowan University, United States

Cayla Ritz, Ph.D. is a Mechanical Design Engineer in Columbus, Ohio. In 2025, she earned her PhD in engineering education from Rowan University. She holds a BS and MS in mechanical engineering from the same institution. Her research focused on how story-driven games can be used to help engineering students understand how they may make decisions in professional engineering roles. She is particularly interested in how engineers make decisions in public welfare, community/environmental safety, and social contexts.

Jeffrey Stransky, Rochester Institute of Technology, United States

Jeffrey Stransky, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering Technology Department at the Rochester Institute of Technology. He holds a Ph.D. in Engineering Education from Rowan University. Dr. Stransky seeks to understand the engineering ideologies that promote potential disparities between engineers' practices and their micro- and macroethics. He pursues to empower engineers with the skills required to incorporate macroethical considerations in their professional practice.

Elif Eda Miskioğlu, Bucknell University, United States

Elif Eda Miskioğlu, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the Chemical Engineering Department at Bucknell University. Her research focuses on the development of expertise and the preparation of the future engineering workforce. She is particularly interested in engineers’ use of intuition as a problem-solving skill to support on-the-job judgments.

Emily Dringenberg, The Ohio State University, United States

Emily Dringenberg, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Engineering Education at Ohio State University.  Her current career purpose is to learn about and reveal beliefs that are widely-held as an implicit result of our socialization within systems of oppression so that she can embolden others to reflect on their assumptions and advance equity in their own ways.

Cheryl Bodnar, The Ohio State University, United States

Cheryl A. Bodnar, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Engineering Education Department at The Ohio State University. Her research interests relate to the incorporation of active learning techniques such as game-based learning in undergraduate classes as well as integration of innovation and entrepreneurship into the engineering curriculum. In particular, she is interested in the impact that these tools can have on student perception of the classroom environment, motivation, and learning outcomes.

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Published

2026-04-29

Issue

Ahead of Print (Articles ASAP)

Section

Manuscripts