Special gender studies for engineering?

Today we are confronted with a new challenge in product development: “Diversity” needs to be implemented in the engineering design and development teams. Such diversity means to “mirror” within the teams the characteristics of different customer groups: the two genders, the different age groups, and the different cultural background corresponding to the cultural differences represented in today’s society. Thus the products and services developed in this way are expected to serve more specifically the different customer groups within society. This approach has already been proven successful, {\rm e.g.}, in some areas of car design and consumer goods. Therefore, science and engineering should in this sense become concerned with diversity across society. In particular engineering education needs to focus on different student groups, especially women. Both enterprises and universities have to put emphasis on co-operation in order to achieve such focus on these new and different customers groups. But what sounds so easy in a pragmatic view, becomes more and more difficult under considerations of the traditional patterns in engineering education. It means accepting different motivations and experiences of students, especially women. It means also to accept different ways of teaching and learning and thus, different strategies in both engineering education and research. One way to develop engineering education further as suggested here, shows the new approach of “Gender Studies in Engineering” to be described in this paper.     

Women students in engineering in Mexico: exploring responses to gender differences

The percentage of women students in engineering in Mexico is still low compared to the percentage of women enrolled in higher education institutions in the country, which has achieved parity with male enrollment. It is thus important to understand how gender can shape the experiences of female college students in engineering programs, which was the focus of this study. Findings for this study are presented in two sections. We first describe how female students have an extra burden dealing with the possibility that their performance might confirm the stereotype of female inferiority in math and science and that they may be judged according to that stereotype. Secondly, we describe the challenges faced by female students in engineering colleges in Mexico, namely, a demanding academic curriculum, and competitive and individualistic environment. This study illustrates how successful female students negotiated the gendered expectations in engineering in Mexican engineering programs, and how they use resistance strategies like academic success to become accepted in the male-dominated engineering environment.     

Effects of curriculum organisation on study progress in engineering studies

Procrastination and time investment areimportant issues in the study of studentperformance and progress. Previous research onthese issues has mainly concentrated uponindividual differences between students inpersonality and time management skills.However, study progress depends not only onstudent characteristics but also on theorganisation of the curriculum. A multilevelanalysis that was carried out on dataconcerning 1578 engineering students on twelvedifferent programmes provides evidence thatvariation in study progress can partly beattributed to curriculum organisation. Thespread of study activities over the year,instruction characteristics and examinationcharacteristics were found to have effects onprogress. This implies that institutes inhigher education may improve their studentsprogress to some extent by means of efficientcurriculum organisation.     

Conceptualising gender and violence in research: Insights from studies in schools and communities in Kenya,Ghana and Mozambique

Gender and violence are complex and contested concepts, understood in varying ways in research, policy and interventions in education. Often there has been an emphasis on acts of violence, with much less attention to the social conditions and gender relations behind these acts. This paper discusses the development of a conceptual framework that emphasises not just acts and individuals, but also transformation of gendered power relations and inequities, alongside a focus on addressing the identity conflicts and struggles of everyday life. The framework underpins research, advocacy and community interventions in a multi-partnered project on violence against girls led by ActionAid.     

First-year engineering students' views of the nature of engineering: implications for engineering programmes

A study was conducted on the views of the nature of engineering held by 114 first-year engineering majors; the study built on prior work on views of the nature of science held by students, their instructors, and the general public. Open-coding analysis of responses to a 12-item questionnaire suggested that the participants held tacit beliefs that engineering (1) involves problem solving; (2) is a form of applied science; (3) involves the design of artefacts or systems; (4) is subject to various constraints; and (5) requires teamwork. These beliefs, however, were often unsophisticated, and significant aspects of the field of engineering as described in the literature on engineering practices were missing from the student responses. The results of this study are important because students' beliefs have a strong influence on what they value in a classroom situation, what they attend to in class, and how they choose to study for a course.     

A critical review on studies of relationship education in the gender equity education of Taiwan: 10 years and beyond

With discourse analyses, this paper attempts to review the research development of relationship education in Taiwan for nearly a decade after the Gender Equity Education Act was announced in 2004, including the research topics generated, the knowledge accumulated, and the results achieved. This paper focuses not only on how the power and impacts of the academic institutions evolves through the production process of knowledge from the research, but also on how the gender perspectives are placed or filled into the discourses. Tracking and reflecting on the discourses and the development of relationship education researches in Taiwan, this paper aims to examine the interwoven effects and influences that social cultures, structures, and institutional power play on the knowledge production and research development of relationship education. The trajectory of Taiwanese experience illustrates a good example for policy making and legislative initiatives in legislative procedures in regard to certain gender knowledge and subjects. It is essential to utilize and coordinate the national resources and academic institutions with further awareness for the direction and promotion of gender knowledge in order for the education and research to root, grow, and prosper.     

A new approach to increasing diversity in engineering at the example of women in engineering

A new initiative to incorporate diversity issues into the common engineering curriculum at the University of Wollongong (UoW) in Australia is outlined and the effect on student awareness quantified. The diversity issues were illustrated in the example of women in engineering, seeing that the numbers of women in engineering have dropped drastically over the last five years at UoW. However, the methodology applied can be adjusted to any diversity group to suit the needs of the institution performing the activity. The method is based on the hypothesis that raising awareness and understanding across the entire student body will be a first step to change. The approach is different to the traditional recruitment and marketing approach of convincing women to try engineering with little follow up support and subsequently often low retention. The initiative involves a diversity lecture delivered to all fourth year engineering students as part of a compulsory management subject. It is anticipated that with the current approach all students are made aware of the problems that women expect to face in the engineering profession. This awareness is hoped to bring about some of the required change in culture and prepare women to draw on available support. The strategy does not exclude men, but includes them as instruments for positive change through an understanding of the benefits of a gender-balanced and diverse work environment on everyone. The initiative is popular with students who through their feedback are requesting more such activities, in particular in early years of engineering education.     

工程伦理教育中案例教学的必要性与改革研究

重视工程伦理教育是当今世界各国工程教育发展的共同趋势。以培养学生工程伦理实践能力为取向的工程伦理案例教学是工程伦理教育的重要方法,工程伦理案例教学适应了工程教育回归实践的需要,也适应了“新工科”人才培养的需要,实现了工程伦理案例的教育学转换。为保证工程伦理案例教学效果,对工程伦理案例的教学设计与学习架构,要体现跨域整合与高阶学习相结合、自我建构与多向互动相结合、循序渐进与典型针对相结合、新型评价与教学分析相结合     

论编辑的定义和编辑学的理论框架

“编辑”是编辑学最基本的概念，编辑学的全部内容就是“编辑”要领的逻辑展开，编辑是策划审理作品的再创造活动，这一基本命题的展开就构成了编辑学理论的框架。     

新型劳动时间控制与虚假自由——外卖骑手的劳动过程研究

随着互联网技术的广泛应用,包括平台经济在内的各种更具灵活性的就业形式应运而生,工作在“空间”和“时间”两个维度上都呈现出迥异于传统劳动组织方式的独特性。弹性劳动时代的确让灵活就业人员的劳动更自由、更具弹性;但正是这种“弹性”,也让劳动者的生计与境遇更具不确定性。表面上的“自由”,背后隐含着深刻的焦虑。基于笔者团队在长三角地区的调研数据,通过对灵活就业者焦虑感影响因素的多元回归分析发现：当下的灵活就业者在获得“自由”的同时也存在极大的焦虑感,而且这种焦虑感显著地高于正规就业人员;那些体现“弹性”与“自由”的劳动特征,恰恰是对灵活就业者的焦虑感具有显著影响的因素;在相当多的灵活就业者的内心深处还隐藏着对一份稳定的、可预期的工作的追求;基于养家糊口的生计理性依然是这一就业群体的行动逻辑。这是当前包括零工经济的新业态的最大的现实。     

Competences in demand within the Spanish agricultural engineering sector

The Rural Engineering Department (Technical University of Madrid) ran three competence surveys during the 2006–2007 and 2007–2008 academic years and evaluated: (1) the competences gained by agricultural engineer's degree and agricultural technical engineer's degree students (360 respondents); (2) the competences demanded by agricultural employers (50 farming sector employers); (3) competences required by farming sector professionals and former students (70 professionals). The surveys show significant differences between what competences agricultural employers require of graduates and the competences they acquire during their agricultural engineering degree courses. Recruiters are looking for generic competences such as the ability to coordinate groups and place less importance on knowledge of engineering, biology, applied economics and legislation. Of the computer-related competences, those most in demand by sector professionals were related to the use of Microsoft Office/Excel (used by 79% of professionals). Surveys were used to redesign some subjects of the degrees.     

食品科学与工程产学研合作教育课程体系改革

介绍了长江大学对食品科学与工程专业产学研合作教育课程体系改革方面的实践。包括课程设置的基本思路、人才培养目标的重新定位、课程体系的构建、课程内容的改革。特别是对学分制条件下,合理整合课程内容,强化实践教学方面进行了有益的探索。     

Concern or comfort with social comparisons matter in undergraduate physics courses: Joint consideration of situated expectancy-value theory,mindsets, and gender

Guided by situated expectancy-value and mindset theories, we investigated the mediating roles of students’ experiences of social comparisons (social comparison concern, comfort being oneself) in relations between mindsets, motivation (self-efficacy, task values, and cost), and achievement in undergraduate physics. Gender differences in these mediational pathways were examined. We recruited a large sample (N = 1,218) of students in undergraduate physics courses, administered surveys twice during a semester, and obtained final course grades from university records. Multiple-group structural equation modeling revealed (1) protective roles of a growth mindset in motivation and performance via comfort being oneself, (2) detrimental roles of a fixed mindset in the same outcomes via social comparison concern, and (3) significant gender differences in these relations, such that a growth mindset is less beneficial, while a fixed mindset is more harmful for women (vs. men). Results suggest that social comparison concern acts as a mechanism of a fixed mindset for undermining women’s motivation and performance in physics to a greater extent than men. Scholarly contributions and implications are discussed.     

汉日隐性性别词语对比研究——从女性主义视角出发

与显性性别词语相比,揭示隐性性别词语背后所隐藏的性别意识问题,或许更能深刻地描画一个民族的性别文化观。本文从女性主义视角出发,将汉日隐性性别词语作为一个独立的考察对象加以探讨。旨在从文化史学角度揭示男权意识和妇女歧视问题如何通过隐性方式潜入词语之中,并以潜移默化的方式影响汉日两种文化的审美价值取向,同时对其差异和成因进行理论分析和研究。     

The smiling philosopher: Emotional labor,gender, and harassment in conference spaces

Abstract

Conference environments enable diverse roles for academics. However, conferences are hardly entered into by participants as equals. Academics enter into and experience professional environments differently according to culture, gender, race, ethnicity, class, and more. This paper considers from a philosophical perspective entering and initiating culturally into academic conferences as a woman. It discusses theories of gender and emotional labor and emotional management, focusing on Arlie Hochschild’s foundational work, and affect in gendered social relations, considering Sara Ahmed’s theorization of the feminist killjoy and the affect alien. It applies these lenses to explore problematic experiences of women initiates at conferences. The paper proceeds with a theoretical discussion of gender, emotional labor, and affect. Then the paper discusses women academics’ experiences generally and at conferences, including educational research conferences, with reference to relevant higher education research as well as anecdotal evidence, relating these experiences to the theories. It thus aims to tie together theoretical insights, higher education scholarship, and ordinary real-life experiences of gendered social relations in conference activities.     

从工具理性到交往理性:教师专业发展研究范式转变之维

教师专业发展研究的范式既是一种科学研究的范式,又具有人文社会科学所特有的人文性与实践性。本文以库恩的范式理论为分析框架,梳理了20世纪初至20世纪80年代末、90年代初传统工具理性指导下教师专业发展研究范式的不足,剖析了20世纪90年代以后交往理性指导下教师专业发展研究范式的优势,阐释了当下我国教师专业发展研究范式的积极探索,旨在呈现20世纪至今,国内外教师专业发展研究范式发展的清晰脉络。     

Sustainable development as a driver for educational innovation in engineering school: the case of UniLaSalle

ABSTRACT

The potential relationships between innovation and sustainability processes, in engineering education, is neither obvious nor simple, especially when innovation, generally speaking, is promoted regardless of sustainability. We used UniLaSalle (In January 2016, the ‘Institut Polytechnique LaSalle Beauvais’, a French engineering school, merged with another higher education engineering school (ESITPA, Rouen). Both campuses (Beauvais and Rouen) have a common name: UniLaSalle (www.unilasalle.fr). As the interview began during 2015, this article only describes the situation of the Beauvais campus.) as a ‘living Lab’ to identify and analyse the reasons for the integration of innovation and Sustainable Development (SD) in training programmes. The aim is to explore, in a perception and reflective approach, how SD can be understood as a driver for specific innovation attitudes in higher education engineering school. This paper adopts an empirical approach based on a qualitative study, using NVivo 9 software to analyse non-numerical data. Our research suggests that SD can be a structural driver for innovation if it is integrated in a transdisciplinarity approach and not just as a discipline per se.     

Teachers’ sanction in the classroom: Effect of age,experience, gender and academic context

The moral judgement of sanction in teaching and disciplinary practices was studied in a group of 222 teachers to determine the factors that affect sanction in the classroom. Factors studied included pupils' intent, consequences, recidivism, pupils' academic level, and family stability in two contexts: discipline and schoolwork. Results showed the significant effects of these factors for each context. Age of teachers, gender and teaching level (primary or secondary school) were also investigated in the judgement of sanction. Results showed a significant main effect of age, and specific differences in the moral algebra of teachers according to gender and teaching level.     

A Qatari perspective on women in the engineering pipeline: an exploratory study

Under-representation of women in engineering has received a great deal of attention, but remained limited largely to a Western context. Thus, this article aims to unveil the barriers to progress, tracking the performance and the emerging trend of success at the undergraduate level of women in engineering in a different cultural dimension. Secondary research, particularly statistical data of female undergraduate engineering students at Qatar University (QU), is used in this study. Findings show that the booming economic development and access to modern education are the key drivers that change the position of women in Qatari society. A shift away from a masculine-dominated society to a more balance masculine/feminine society was identified as the impetus for better enrolment and achievement of female engineering students in Qatar. Similar to the trend in the USA, recruitment and not retention was the reason behind the under-representation of female undergraduate engineering students at QU.