Teaching discrimination as a wicked problem

Mapped principles 

The project is mapped to the following framework principles:

P2. Ability to handle wicked problems for a sustainable societal development

P1. Essential knowledge of the subject  

P3. Active student-centred learning 

Definitions of the principles

Contact

Åsa-Karin Engstrand associate professor

akengstr@kth.se , 087906772

Profile

Project number 

This project is implemented at the School of Industrial Engineering and Management (ITM) within the Future Education programme (project no. 2623-ITM) 

Project context 

Discrimination in organisations constitutes a wicked problem. It is deeply intertwined with power, norms, and organisational practices. In a contemporary context where diversity work is being questioned, not least in the wake of political changes following Trump’s return to office, the question of how students can be prepared to handle and counteract discrimination in working life and society becomes highly relevant. Dealing with discrimination is part of engineering skills such as collaboration, communication, and leadership. 

The wickedness of the problem can be handled in different ways depending on how stakeholders view the complexity of the problem and the possibilities for handling it. This means that the cognitive, analytical, communicative, and political complexity of the problem needs to be examined, as well as which educational initiatives may be possible, given the complexities that can be identified.

Purpose (outcome) 

The purpose of the project is to increase knowledge sharing and shared learning among teachers at KTH in this area, thereby contributing to the development of education and to meeting goals related to social sustainability. 

Project results (output) 

The project will deliver the following concrete results: 

• An inventory (through interviews with programme directors at ITM) of educational initiatives in ITM’s programmes, including how the complexity of the problem is handled. 
• Proposals for new educational initiatives. 

The scalability of the results is considered high, since the wicked problem needs to be addressed by all programmes at KTH. 

Time plan 

Start date: 2026-09-01
End date: 2026-12-31

Project documentation

If you have a KTH ID, you can read the documents when logged in:

• Poster: The project’s first poster (in Swedish) will be available at the ”Storträffen” meetup autumn 2026
• Project directive (Swedish): Projektdirektiv_FrU26_2623-ITM_UndervisningDiskriminering.pdf