Funding and other resources to support engineering education scholarship are shrinking. In an environment of increased accountability, engineering education researchers and practitioners are being asked to identify the tangible impacts of their work. Unfortunately, there is a dearth of scholarship on how impact should be defined and evaluated in the context of engineering education. The engineering education community lacks a shared understanding and language around the topic of impact. As a result, many of us struggle to articulate the impact of our work to diverse audiences, and we are unable to advocate for engineering education using consistent messages. It is imperative for the global engineering education research community coalesces on a shared meaning of what impact looks like in this context – or else an inability to clearly communicate the impact of our work may lead to a loss of public support for engineering education R&D. Because the engineering education research community spans many geographic regions, it is important that the conversation around this topic engages members of worldwide engineering education community.
