Educating a growing minority—Canadian women engineers

Conclusion The Canada-wide survey of women engineers has provided a wealth of detailed information about a still small, but rapidly growing, minority within the profession. A major source of satisfaction of these women is the interest and variety of the work they do and for which they are financially rewarded on the same scale as men. Few wives earn salaries equivalent to those of their husbands, but women engineers do. This fact may account at least in part for the egalitarian nature of their marriages. With two professional salaries coming into the household, it is possible to engage competent and reliable assistants. The proportion of women engineers who have household employees, either full-time or on a part-time basis, is many times greater than for Canadian women in general. The ability of women engineers to divide their time between family and profession seems to maximize the satisfaction they derive from each. Their use of continuing education to maintain continuity of professional interests during their short periods out of full-time employment as engineers shows careful planning and individual ingenuity. In spite of occasional instances of unfairness or perceived discrimination by an individual, women engineers report a high level of satisfaction with the profession they have chosen. Many wrote at length about why they would recommendit to other women who want an interesting, challenging, and rewarding career. They say that engineering is a great profession—especially for a woman!     

A study of the Greek school teachers' moral judgment structures

The purpose of the present paper is to examine the teachers' cognitive structures through moral judgment schemas, as well as whether the above‐mentioned structures diversify among teachers, depending on education level, specialty, age, teaching experience, and gender. Moreover, another aim is to examine whether these cognitive structures can predict students' behaviors. Two hundred and fifty eight in‐service teachers (men, n = 83; women, n = 175; M _age = 41.24, SD = 8.06; M _experiences = 14.91, SD = 9.46), in elementary (n = 96), and intermediate education level (n = 158), participated in the study. The results revealed that the primary education teachers' moral judgment is based on the moral concepts of the maintaining norms schema, while the one of those of secondary education is rather based on the postconventional schema. Furthermore, the results of the present study revealed that age, experience, and gender do not constitute causes of diversification of moral concepts and that the personal interest schema can forecast any irresponsible behaviors on the part of the students.     

The gendered landscape of UK higher education: do men feel disadvantaged?

The landscape of UK higher education (HE) has changed significantly over the past decades. Key shifts relate to the changing gender balance of the undergraduate student body and to emergent gender gaps in retention and attainment. Men are now less likely to access HE, complete their degrees or achieve ‘Upper’ degrees. There has been minimal empirical exploration of men’s perceptions of the current gender patterning of HE, and none focusing on the extent to which they identify as a minority, or experience minority disadvantage, within this context. This study explores these questions via analysis of quantitative and qualitative data from 333 male and female survey respondents. The findings suggest that men do not recognise themselves as comprising a disadvantaged minority within HE, and that both men and women perceive that women face greater challenges because of their gender, both during their studies and in relation to post-degree life chances.     

Implementing feminist theory in engineering: obstacles within the gender studies tradition

Scholars have noted that there is hesitation to utilise findings from gender studies in engineering education. Issues within gender studies may be part of the matching problem. Debates concerning two concepts for new engineering paradigms are investigated: care and heterogeneity. Their appeals and the respective complications which they tend to be associated with are revisited. Two examples are explored in detail. The tensions revealed lead to the contents of technical work. More social sciences content in engineering education is sometimes suggested, as a way to support more humane approaches. But, if the calculations that decide how many bolts of what dimension are to be put where are ‘masculinist reductionism’, it still remains that someone will have to do those calculations. Is emphasis on social issues really what we want from engineers?     

‘It's more flexible’: persistence of women engineers in the academy

The under-representation of women in engineering is an issue of concern for policy-makers. While much of the existing literature has focussed on understanding reasons for women's under-representation in engineering and related technical fields, there is a paucity of research that examines why women who are already in engineering persist. This study aims to answer the question, why do women engineers in academe persist in a discipline that is generally perceived to be inhospitable to women. Three main challenges, namely gender discrimination, lack of institutional and disciplinary support, and the rigid nature of the workplace, emerged as key impediments to women engineers in the private sector. In contrast, women engineers in the academy identified the flexibility offered by academic environments, the presence of personal support networks, and a passion for teaching and students as critical factors that influenced their decision to remain in academia.     

Breaking it Down: Engineering Student STEM Confidence at the Intersection of Race/Ethnicity and Gender

It is generally accepted that engineering requires a strong aptitude for mathematics and science; therefore, students’ judgments regarding their competence in these areas as well as engineering likely influence their confidence in engineering. Little is known about how self-confidence in science, mathematics, and engineering courses (STEM confidence) varies at the intersection of race/ethnicity and gender. To fill this gap, this study examined the STEM confidence of multiple groups in undergraduate engineering programs. Results indicated that although some underrepresented groups may have lower STEM confidence overall, this finding no longer applies to all groups after controlling for personal, environmental, and behavioral factors. Specifically, African-American and Hispanic men report higher average STEM confidence than White men after controlling for these associated measures. In addition, White women continue to report lower average STEM confidence than White men after controlling for these measures, while other groups do not differ from White men. Further, many elements of student perception, including student views of professors, comparisons to peers, perceptions of the field as rewarding, and desirability of chosen major are positively associated with student STEM confidence. The changing patterns of significance for race/ethnicity and gender groups between the two models indicate that personal, environmental, and behavioral factors have different relationships with STEM confidence levels for different groups. This study contributes an understanding that gender differences in STEM confidence are not indifferent to racial and ethnic context. Social-cognitive theory provides a valuable framework for studying student academic confidence and would improve future self-confidence research.     

College students' views of male and female college teachers: Part II—Evidence from students' evaluations of their classroom teachers

Although a majority of studies have found that male and female college teachers do not differ in the global ratings they receive from their students, when statistically significant differences are found, more of them favor women than men. Across studies, the average association between gender and overall evaluation, while favoring women (averager=+.02), is so small as to be insignificant in practical terms. Considering specific instructional dimensions of evaluations, female teachers receive very slightly higher ratings on their sensitivity to and concern with class level and progress than do men (averager=+.12). On other specific dimensions, men and women either do not differ or the differences are trivial in size (or, for two dimensions, while nontrivial, based on too few studies to be generalizable with any degree of certainty). Students tend to rate same-gendered teachers a little higher than opposite-gendered teachers. Although interaction effects on evaluations have also been found between gender of teacher and other factors (academic rank of the teacher, academic area, class level of the course, difficulty of the teacher or course, and the teacher's pedagogical orientation or personality characteristics), they are inconsistent across studies. Moreover, ratings of teachers are sometimes enhanced by gender-typical, and sometimes by gender-atypical, attributes, behaviors, and positions. The findings are discussed in terms of the expectations or demands of students and whether or not student ratings are biased by the gender of the teacher.     

Gender neutral engineering: an impossible dream? ‐ the case of Eastern Europe

A total of 189 engineers, both students and qualified engineers of both sexes at two universities in Bulgaria, were given a questionnaire addressing the issue of why such a high proportion of engineers in Bulgaria were women compared with Britain. Answers were both fixed answer and open ended. The responses stressed the importance of the need for women to work for economic reasons and the role of the previous (communist) system in emphasizing the importance of both engineering and gender equity in its policies, including its educational policy. Qualified engineers were slightly more ready to stress these ‘system’ factors than student engineers. Engineering in Bulgaria had not been altered in any way which would take account of Western feminist criticism of engineering, but was perceived as being taught more theoretically and via lectures than in Britain. A contemporary strong switch away from engineering into economics and business was perceived. It is not clear yet whether gender neutral engineering will survive in Bulgaria.     

Paving the way and passing the torch: mentors’ motivation and experience of supporting women in optical engineering

The phenomenon of women's underrepresentation in engineering is well known. However, the slow progress in achieving better gender equality here compared with other domains has accentuated the ‘numbers’ issue, while the quality aspects have been largely ignored. This study aims to shed light on both these aspects via the lens of mentors, who are at the coalface of guiding female engineers through their education and subsequent careers. Based on data collected from 25 mentors (8 men and 17 women from 8 countries), the paper explores their experiences of being mentors, as well as their views on recommended actions for nurturing female engineers. The findings reveal that the primary motivation for becoming a mentor was personal for men and women. Many mentors from countries with relatively lower female labour participation rates perceive their roles as guarantors of their mentees’ successful future career paths, and a similar trend can be found in mentors in academia. The study underscores the need for invigorating mentors’ roles in order to secure a more equitable future for engineering education.     

How Middle Schoolers Draw Engineers and Scientists

The perceptions young students have of engineers and scientists are often populated with misconceptions and stereotypes. Although the perceptions that young people have of engineers and of scientists have been investigated separately, they have not been systematically compared. The research reported in this paper explores the question “How are student perceptions of engineers and scientists similar and how are they different?” Approximately 1,600 middle school students from urban and suburban schools in the southeastern United States were asked to draw either an engineer or a scientist at work. Drawings included space for the students to explain what their person was doing in the picture. A checklist to code the drawings was developed and used by two raters. This paper discusses similarities and differences in middle school perceptions of scientists and engineers. Results reveal that the students involved in this study frequently perceive scientists as working indoors conducting experiments. A large fraction of the students have no perception of engineering. Others frequently perceive engineers as working outdoors in manual labor. The findings have implications for the development and implementation of engineering outreach efforts.     

Individual differences in gender role beliefs influence spatial ability test performance

The gender role hypothesis posits that performance on a cognitive ability test is influenced by whether the test instructions frame the test as measuring a skill that is consistent or inconsistent with the test taker's gender role beliefs. The Bem sex role inventory was used to measure the gender role of female college students, and the group embedded figures test (GEFT) was used to measure their spatial ability. Masculine gender role women scored significantly higher on the GEFT when the test was described as measuring spatial ability, whereas feminine gender role women scored significantly higher when the test was described as measuring empathy. In a second experiment, men did not show the same effects. Implications of individual differences in gender role beliefs are discussed.     

Are women engineers in Lebanon prepared for the challenges of an engineering profession?

This study investigates the status of women engineers in the Middle East, considering women engineers in Lebanon as a case study. The author investigated the following questions: What are the influences behind females’ decisions to choose engineering as their major course of study? What are the motives behind this decision? What are the perceptions of females regarding the essential skills for a successful engineering career? An online survey consisting of Likert-scale items was completed by 327 female engineers who graduated from universities in Lebanon and now work in various locations around the world. A genuine interest in the field appeared to be the main influence in the participants’ decisions to choose engineering profession. The potential for professional growth was the leading motivator for choosing engineering. Although participants reported that they possessed adequate theoretical knowledge and technical skills before graduation, in the actual practice of engineering, they noted weaknesses in creativity and innovation.     

Why do women value credentials? Perceptions of gender inequality and credentialism in South Korea

This mixed methods study investigates how perceptions of gender inequality can positively predict credentialist attitudes and beliefs for women based on a survey of 488 college students from six universities with an approximately equal proportion of men and women, and follow-up interviews with 18 of these respondents in 2018-19. 11 men and 7 women were interviewed. The findings suggest that women are more likely to value credentials in the face of discrimination at work because they believed credentials could help them overcome their gender disadvantage, catch up with men, and minimize their risk of failure, as education was perceived to provide equal opportunities for men and women.     

Women at the top: Female full professors in higher education in Israel

The perceptions and attitudes of women who have reached the top of the academic hierarchy (female full professors) are examined in reference to the effects of gender on their scientific work and career. The analyses refer to a number of issues such as encapsulation and isolation, opportunities and achievement. In general, female full professors do not feel that they have been discriminated against in the course of their careers. They are nevertheless aware of the different career patterns of the sexes in academia, with women having to work harder and longer than men to establish their suitability and competence as academic scientists. They do not however attribute these differences to sex-based stereotypes and discrimination, but rather to objective conditions and women's own decisions.This study was supported by a grant from the Ford Foundation received through the Israel Foundations Trustees.     

Gender earnings differentials in the engineering profession in Greece

Engineers in Greece undergo a heavy schooling investment—five years of university study instead of the usual four. Greece is atypical in that women make up a relatively large portion of the engineering work force. Working women earn substantially less than do men and there is evidence of labor market discrimination. In this paper a recent survey (1987) of employed engineers is used to examine earnings differentials between men and women and to compare the results with an examination of the results of an earlier survey (1977). Results indicate that most of the difference in earnings between male and female engineers in Greece is not accounted for by differences in productive characteristics such as education and experience and, therefore, most of the difference may be due to discrimination. Moreover, the proportion of the earnings differential not explained by productivity has increased over time.This is a revised version of the paper presented at the 1991 Cambridge Social Stratification Research Seminar, Gender, Work and Pay, September 26–27, 1991. The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and should not be attributed to the World Bank.     

New media,old images: constructing online representations of women and men in science,engineering and technology

This paper looks at online representations of women and men in science, engineering and technology. We show that these representations largely re/produce dominant gender discourses. We then focus on the question: How are gender clichéd images re/produced online? Drawing on a discursive analysis of data from six interviews with web authors, we argue that there are two reasons why their awareness of gender issues does not always translate into website content. First, web authors think of themselves as working within either journalistic or scientific cultures, and draw on associated criteria, which exclude gender equity, to make content decisions. Second, they construct distinctions between representation and reality, judging representations on their ‘empirical realism’ (how accurately they represent a reality seen to exist outside the text), foreclosing considerations of their productive power. Finally, we draw on interview data with young people to show that these constrain the meanings made by web users.     

Learning from the Professions: Examining How,Why, and When Engineers Read and Write

With the advent of the Next Generation Science Standards in engineering (NGSS, 2013), teachers of multiple subject areas are being asked to do more than ever before—not only to teach engineering content in the K-12 classroom but also to engage students in authentic disciplinary reading and writing as part of content learning. These standards sound good, but they beg several questions; namely, what do we know about how, why, and when do engineers read and write as they do their work every day? What do teachers charged with engineering education know about the daily practices of engineers, let alone the literacy practices? In short, little is known about the literacy practices of engineers in the course of their daily work. This article draws on participant observation, interviews, and document analysis of one research engineering laboratory to illustrate the literacy practices of one group of engineers and begins to draw implications from this work for teacher practice in achieving the NGSS engineering education standards.     

工程化教育背景下土木工程专业力学课程体系改革的探讨

高等工程专业教育的工程化改革是国际工程教育改革的方向。以工程化为视角的土木工程专业力学类课程体系改革,要将培养学生的工程素养和实践能力作为出发点,在力学类课程教学体系、教学内容、实践能力培养、教学和考核方式等方面进行改革探索,以期为培养合格工程师的目标的实现提供参考。     

交通工程专业人才培养模式研究

交通工程专业与土木工程系列的其它专业相比,发展历史比较短,理论体系还不成熟,学生在专业基础课学习阶段所形成的基础知识与能力相对薄弱。随着我国社会经济结构的调整,交通工程专业的人才培养直接面向我国社会经济发展的需要,应遵循质量、效益协调发展的方针。要保证学生培养质量,必须建立交通工程专业理论体系,在学科建设的平台上,优化学生的知识结构;要提高效益,必须以社会需求为基础,以教学内容和质量为保障,培养科学与工程并举的复合型人才。     

女性进入精英集体:有限的进步

Based on studies of literature and the freshman admission data from 1978 to 2005 in Peking University, the research reveals how female student enrollments grew from nil to a considerable size, and how the exclusion of women college admission was overcome to achieve gender balance. However, the paper argues that this progress is limited in that class exclusion and the urban-rural gap is still significant in college enrollment, and there has been obvious sex segregation in the selection of specialties. So, equality from gender perspective alone is a “lame equality”. It is necessary to carefully examine what equality in higher education means to female students when both sexes have approximately equal opportunities to higher education, for to female students, the choice of specialty and the professional training are processes in which they have to continually submit themselves to male-centric knowledge. __________ Translated by ZHANG Yurong from Gaodeng Jiaoyu Yanjiu 高等教育研究 (Journal of Higher Education), 2008, 29(2): 49–61