THE LOCAL CONSTRUCTION OF THE ASYMMETRICAL POWER RELATIONSHIP IN TEAMWORK AMONG ENGINEERS

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to examine local, interactional processes associated with the construction of power asymmetries in collaborative teamwork among engineering students. To explore the construction of power asymmetries at the micro-interactional level, this article examines a corpus consisting of about 150,000 words in which seven teams of engineering students engage in collaborative project design over an academic year. Findings demonstrate dominant-subordinate relationships are co-constructed and reconstructed in the ongoing process of face-to-face interaction. Dominant team members get their ideas ratified repeatedly by displaying technical explanations, assumptions, and opinions. Conversely, subordinate teammates tend to ask technical questions to seek information. Ultimately, dominant teammates are able to manage the direction that the conversation takes during the design process by gaining tacit consent to grab and maintain control over the project's design.