Invitation to Participate: Research Study on Engineering and Caregiving by Engineers Yukon and Carleton University
Engineers Yukon, in partnership with Carleton University, is working on a research project concerning caregiving, engineering skills, and continuing professional development (CPD). The first phase of this initiative started in 2022, when we collected engineers’ perceptions on the addition of caregiving experience to Engineers Yukon’s CPD program. The report can be found here: https://www.engineersyukon.ca/publications.php
As the second phase of this project, we are inviting you to participate in a study entitled “Caregiving skills for the engineering profession”. This study aims to explore the relationship between caregiving skills and the engineering profession.
This study is done in two parts (part 1: interview; part 2: survey), where involvement in either part does not necessitate participation in the other. This invitation is for the first part, which involves one 60-minute interview that will take place online, via Zoom.
We are looking for engineers who have been licensed to practice in Canada for 2 or more years and who also have caregiving responsibilities (e.g., childcare, eldercare, disability-care, etc.).
Participation is completely voluntary, and your participation will be held in confidence by the researchers at Carleton University. With your consent, interviews will be audio-recorded (no video) on Zoom. You will be asked about the intensity and nature of your caregiving responsibilities, how it has impacted your work, and which skills (if any) have developed or improved though your caregiving experiences.
You will have the right to end your participation in the study at any time (including during the interview), for any reason, up until one month after your interview date. If you choose to withdraw, all the information you have provided will be destroyed and no quotes will be used in our final project. HOWEVER, the information provided during the interview may be used to inform the construction of our survey.
As a token of appreciation, we will be providing you with a $50 Amazon gift card. Once the interview is completed, we will send you the online gift card. The compensation is yours to keep, even if you choose to withdraw within the month after your interview date. We will be interviewing 10-15 participants.
Research data will only be accessible by the Carleton research team (Angel Henchey and Dr. Linda Schweitzer). In-session data, such as the audio from the interview, will be stored locally on the researcher’s password-protected computer. All identifying information will also be removed, to keep your responses confidential. Once the recording has been transcribed and verified, the audio-recording will be destroyed. After the study is completed, your de-identified/anonymous data will be retained for future research use. When reporting our results, care will be taken to ensure that no responses will be attributable to you.
If you meet our criteria, we will contact you to set up a time for an interview.
This research has been cleared by Carleton University Research Ethics Board A Clearance #123263
If you have any ethical concerns with the study, please contact Carleton University Research Ethics Board, preferably by email at [email protected] or you can leave a message by phone at 613-520-2600 ext. 2517. For all other concerns, please contact the researchers (contact information below).
Angel Henchey (PhD Candidate)
Linda Schweitzer (Professor)
Sprott School of Business, Carleton University