Is a Mac "PC" in engineering?

Abstract

This study explores the opinions and experiences of five Mac-using students in a first-year engineering program where Windows-based personal computers (PCs) are requisite. These students have circumvented the restrictive departmental policies which solely support Windows-based PC systems and which (as of this writing) clearly identify the lack of technical support for Mac users. Tablet PCs were the only machines that fully met departmental requirements for several years, and were the machine of choice in the university's engineering community. This requirement has been unwavering until 2012 when a change was made: the first-year engineering program modified the computer specifications to allow Macintosh computers, with certain stated limitations and precautions. Although still highly discouraged and with no provision for Apple technical support, the change has allowed a greater range of options for incoming cohorts. Whether the use of a Mac in this engineering program is politically correct (PC) or not remains to be discovered; this study intends to shed light on this subject. Building on the work of Firmin, which investigated the lived experiences of Mac users on a PC-dominated campus, this work is unique in its focus on engineering students. The present study poses two questions: 1) How does the level of support for Mac users on a PC-dominated campus impact their experience in the first-year engineering program? And 2) How does technical compatibility affect first year students' day-to-day actions within the engineering program? Data was collected via semi-structured student interviews, and coded and analyzed using thematic analysis. Four salient themes emerged from the data: superiority, advocacy, autonomy, and survival. This exploratory study gives a voice to these students who strive to advocate their chosen systems and survive a rigorous engineering curriculum within a Windows PC-dominated department.