Dayoung Kim, Ph.D.

Research Statement

** For more up-to-date information on Dr. Kim’s research, please visit dayoungkim.org ** 

Dr. Dayoung Kim is broadly interested in topics related to engineering practice (e.g., practices and experiences of, and competencies required for, engineers in various employment settings, such as business organizations (e.g., startup companies) and government agencies), engineering ethics (e.g., social responsibility of engineering professionals and its education), and related policy concerns.

The overall purpose of her research is to identify how best to support the innovative and ethical practice of engineering professionals through educational interventions and science & technology policy. This requires a better understanding of engineers' daily practices and the regulatory and policy environment surrounding their work environments. She has utilized quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods approaches to understand what influences engineering professionals’ ethical practice and how to help engineers be better prepared for potential challenges in their workplaces. She has studied practicing engineers' lived experience of ethical engineering practice and their career pathways towards contributing to shaping the policy environment where their practice is embedded, by actively working with engineers in various employment sectors.

Biography

Dr. Dayoung Kim is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Engineering Education (College of Engineering) at Virginia Tech. She is broadly interested in the practice of engineers in various employment settings and its interactions with the social, economic, and political contexts where their practice is embedded. Especially interested in the ethical and innovative practice of engineers, she tries to answer questions like, how best to support the innovative and ethical practice of engineers in business settings through education and science & technology policy.

She received her Ph.D. in Engineering Education at Purdue University (2022) and received her B.S. and M.S. in Chemical Engineering at Yonsei University (2017) and Purdue University (2021) respectively. During her doctoral study, she received the 2022 Christine Mirzayan Science & Technology Policy Graduate Fellowship from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and the 2022 College of Engineering Outstanding Research Award from Purdue University. She was also a Bilsland Fellow of the College of Engineering at Purdue University when she was a Ph.D. student.

Awards & Honors

• Honorable Mention Best Paper Award, IEEE-ETHICS 2023 Conference, 2023
• Apprentice Faculty Grant, Educational Research and Methods (ERM) Division, American Society for Engineering Education, 2023
• +Policy Research Fellowship, Institute for Society, Culture, and Environment - Policy Destination Area, Virginia Tech, 2022
• College of Engineering Outstanding Research Award, Purdue University, 2022
• Lillian Gilbreth Postdoctoral Fellowship, Purdue University, 2022 (offered but declined)
• Christine Mirzayan Science & Technology Policy Graduate Fellowship, The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2022
• Finalist, Best Paper Award, Engineering Ethics Division, American Society of Engineering Education, 2021
• Bilsland Dissertation Fellowship, Purdue University, 2021
• Best Formal Paper by a Graduate Student Award, Association for Practical and Professional Ethics, 2020
• Finalist, Benjamin Dasher Best Paper Award, IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, 2018
• Explorer Fellowship, Purdue University, 2017

Selected Publications

Kim, D. & Jesiek, B. K. (2023). Political ideologies and moral foundations of engineering professionals in the United States. Technology in Society, 75(2). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2023.102379

Hess, J. L., Kim, D., & Fila, N. D. (2023). Critical incidents in ways of experiencing ethical engineering practice in the health products industry. Studies in Engineering Education, 3(2). https://seejournal.org/articles/10.21061/see.80

Kim, D. & Hess, J. L. (2022). A multi-layered illustration of exemplary business ethics practices with voices of the engineers in the health products industry. Journal of Business Ethics, 187, 169-183. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-022-05255-2

Kim, D., Jesiek, B. K., & Mazzurco, A. (2022). Development and validation of the Sojourn Readiness Assessment (SRA): Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, and translation to Chinese. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 88, 95-105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2022.04.002

Howland, S. J., Kim, D., & Jesiek, B. K. (2022). Senior engineering students’ reflection on their learning of ethics and morality: A qualitative investigation of influences and lessons learned. International Journal of Ethics Education, 7, 171-199. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40889-022-00139-5

Kim, D. (2022). Promoting professional socialization: A synthesis of Durkheim, Kohlberg, Hoffman, and Haidt for professional ethics education. Business and Professional Ethics Journal, 41(1), 93-114. https://doi.org/10.5840/bpej202216115

Kim, D., Jesiek, B. K., & Howland, S. J. (2021). Longitudinal investigation of moral disengagement among undergraduate engineering students: Findings from a mixed-methods study. Ethics & Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508422.2021.1958330

Kim, D., Jesiek, B. K., Zoltowski, C. B., Loui, M. C., & Brightman, A. O. (2020). An academic-industry partnership for preparing the next generation of ethical engineers for professional practice. Advances in Engineering Education, 8(3). https://advances.asee.org/wp-content/uploads/vol08/issue3/Papers/AEE-NAE-Brightman.pdf

Research Grants

Building Capacity for Research in Technology-Based Social Entrepreneurship Education for the Next Generation of Engineering Leaders. Funded by National Science Foundation, Award# 2321188; Principal Investigator: Dayoung Kim | Abstract

Fostering Regional Innovation Ecosystem in the State of Virginia: Examining University Administrators’ Perspectives. Funded by 4-VA; Principal Investigator: Dayoung Kim

Exploring AI Ethics Policy Concerns and Career Pathways of the AI Professionals. Funded by the Institute for Society, Culture, and Environment - Policy Destination Area (ISCE-PDA), Virginia Tech; Principal Investigator: Dayoung Kim; Co-Principal Investigators: Qin Zhu, Hoda Eldardiry