Developing mentoring relationships to support the careers of women in electrical engineering and computer technologies. An analysis on mentors’ competencies

Only a low percent of women follow studies and develop careers in the field of engineering and computer technologies (E/CT). An initiative for motivating and supporting young women towards future educational paths and careers in this field was undertaken in the framework of a European thematic network with the involvement of universities from almost all European countries. Mentoring was one of the most significant considerations during the first stage of the project. Twenty-six partners contributed with their views, suggestions and answers to a specific questionnaire on identifying the various qualifications building the profile of a prospective mentor. The paper discusses the important elements of mentoring schemes addressed to women deciding engineering education and career and analyses the proper mentor’s competencies. The study reveals that mentors should have a wide range of qualifications apart from their technical background, such as good professional level and training experience, as well as willingness, communication skills and other individual characteristics related to their personality.     

Technology for Girls in Sweden

Sweden is placing much greater emphasis on the technical education and training of young people. Since 1982/83, technology has become a required area of study throughout the compulsory school system. This provides an excellent opportunity for girls to learn much more about science and technology at a young age and to become confident in these fields. However, school teachers of young children themselves lack confidence and expertise in technology and are inclined to approach the teaching of the subject in a diffident, somewhat abstract manner

A range of very practical activities are outlined which can be introduced into the training of compulsory school and indeed nursery school teachers, so that they have a much better approach to the organisation of technology classes. The author has direct experience of all the work she describes and has been very active in developing curriculum content for technology classes at nursery and compulsory school level. She has arranged for a number of her engineering students at LinkÖping Institute of Technology, mainly women, to become involved as instructors of trainee nursery school teachers. Other students have worked on special technology projects with compulsory level school teachers. The women engineering students act as powerful role models for young trainee teachers and for school girls alike

The author stresses that quite simple, often home made and inexpensive materials can be used in imaginative ways to intrigue and involve children and especially girls, in technical activities and studies.     

Factors Underlying Persistent Gendered Option Choices in School Science and Technology in Scotland

The past 15 years have seen a persistent underrepresentation of girls in school science and technology subjects. The article is in three parts. The first part surveys the persistence of girls' opting out of science and technology in their school option choices and reviews from a wide range of literature the influences which affect girls' choices. These influences are: early socialisation, primary teachers as change agents, option choice processes, guidance and careers advice, teachers and teaching, and work experience. The second part presents a meta-analysis of initiatives to encourage girls and women into science, engineering and technology (SET) courses and careers, drawing upon a survey undertaken as part of a Scottish initiative to encourage women students and staff to enter courses in SET in higher education and to progress in careers there. The analysis is then used to illuminate various school initiatives and to estimate the likelihood of their success in addressing the underlying influences on girls' choices away from science and technology.     

The Situation of Women in Technical Professions in the Federal Republic of Germany

In West Germany, women have traditionally worked in a very restricted range of jobs, with skilled women workers being concentrated in administrative and service sector employment. The article reviews the reasons for this situation and the initiatives which have been taken to increase the proportion of women in jobs traditionally undertaken by men, including technical jobs at all levels. The Federal Government supported by the Lander (West German States) has introduced a number of projects across the country to train more young women in non-traditional vocational areas, especially in the mechanical and electronic/electrical engineering fields with a view to producing skilled craft workers and technicians. The difficulties faced by young women who have taken up such training, both during the training period and when seeking work subsequently are discussed

The situation for women engineers at the professional level is also outlined and a number of strategies which may be helpful in improving the position of women in engineering in the Federal Republic is outlined. Recently, computer courses organised by women's groups have proved successful in attracting women students from a wide variety of backgrounds and age ranges with little or no previous technical or scientific training.     

THE EMANCIPATION OF WOMEN: A COMMON EUROPEAN CONCERN

The true emancipation of women should become a common European concern and a common European goal. Emancipation means that no socio‐cultural or biological constraint should prevent women from obtaining the same chances and opportunities as men. True emancipation, which is still a distant objective in most of the European countries, implies that access to professional life should not have to be paid for by an exhausting cumulation of domestic and professional roles. A recent research programme on the student population of the University of Geneva provides data which are relevant in this respect. Female students are less likely to have internalized norms of behaviour which facilitate adaptation to a competitive environment in which women have to compete with men. Being subject to cross pressures and torn between two sets of behavioural norms, young women are often ambivalent in their attitudes. The conclusions of the Geneva research are consistent with other research results in other countries. The major explanatory factor is early socialization. True emancipation of women requires a long‐range education policy aiming at gradually reducing the differences in the socialization patterns of boys and girls.     

An exploratory study of gender and male teachers in early childhood education and care centres in China

This paper explores the impact of gender on the employment of men in early childhood education and care (ECEC) centres through the voices of male and female early childhood teachers (ECTs) working in China. Gender imbalance in the ECEC workforce is a global phenomenon, and there has been little research about it in countries such as China. This study was based on online interviews with 16 ECTs from three major cities in China. Findings indicated that ECTs’ perceptions conformed largely with traditional gender stereotypes in Chinese culture. Western expectations that men’s participation in ECEC could challenge traditional gender stereotypes and promote gender diversity were not reflected in either Chinese academic literature reviewed or the participants’ views captured in this research. The appreciation of masculinity in Chinese culture and implied disadvantages are considered within a global context of empowering women and girls.     

单身妈妈，撑起孩子的一片天

今天，全世界大约每四到五个有未成年孩子的家庭中，就有一家是靠单身家长孤身负担的。而他们当中有80％都是单身妈妈。此外，绝大多数单身妈妈家庭都是由于离婚和未婚先孕造成的。在许多西方国家，单身妈妈数量的不断上升已经引起公众和决策者们越来越多的关注。从上世纪80年代早期开始，这个问题就已经在美国以及其它许多欧洲国家的民众和决策者中引发了广泛的争议。虽然中国的离婚率很高，单身父母的数量也与西方国家相差无几，但人们很少谈论或者了解到这方面的问题。     

The rise,removal, and return of women: gender representations in primary-level textbooks in Afghanistan, 1980–2010

Nearly four decades of instability and fragility have led to many changes in the status of women and girls in Afghanistan. Yet, little research focuses on these changes within the education system. To understand the country’s stance toward gender issues in formal practice, we examine gender representations in Afghan primary-level Dari language arts textbooks. Using a qualitative content analysis and longitudinal data, we examine how ideologies about gender have been politicised in Afghanistan and are reflected in school textbooks from 1980 to 2010. Findings suggest that tumultuous political events and power struggles in the recent history of Afghanistan have led to many changes in how the daily social and working lives of Afghan women and girls have been portrayed in textbooks. As seen in the textbooks, it appears that efforts are being made within the current regime to balance competing gender norms. We conclude with suggestions for policy-makers.     

To Cook or to Conjugate: gender and class in the adult curriculum 1865‐1900 in Bristol,United Kingdom

The paper compares and contrasts two historical moments in the education of women in Bristol (UK) in the period 1865‐1900. It first traces the university extension movement and the admitting of women to the new University College in 1876. Then, evening classes founded in the 1880s are discussed, where, in contrast to the university curriculum, women and girls were taught domestic skills. These different curricula are related to the social class background of the students. The paper concludes by discussing the predominance of the domestic curriculum in women's adult education today, suggesting that vocational training for working‐class girls has been transformed into leisure education for middle‐class women.     

Trends in Environmental Education Images of Textbooks from Western and Eastern European Countries and Non-European Countries

Textbook analysis is seen as a major element for studying environmental education addressing pupils, image analysis being rather relevant when studying textbooks written in 11 languages. We analysed 25 textbooks from 14 countries addressed to 14–16-year-old pupils, focusing on: (1) local and foreign/global images; (2) urban/rural and nature images; (3) negative impact, human management, and the beauty of nature; and (4) men and women in images with negative and positive impact. We distinguished some trends between Western (WEc) and Eastern (EEc) European countries and non-European countries (NEc). In contrast to textbooks from EEc and NEc, which tend to show the beauty of nature with little human influence, WEc textbooks tend to exhibit more images of urban/rural landscape, of human negative impact and of human management, expressing an anthropocentric view of the environment. Men are usually more present in textbook images than women. However, some images exhibiting more women than men could be found in textbooks from WEc and EEc, but never in NEc. In negative impact pictures, men are more often present than women but NEc women are never present in such images. Women are more frequent than men in positive impact images. Results suggest that textbooks from EEc and NEc should give more emphasis to human management and urban/rural images, whereas those from WEc should give more attention to the beauty of nature. A balance in the presence of men and women in images should be a matter of greater concern by all textbooks’ authors and publishers.     

A European research on women and Engineering Education (2001-2002)

Preoccupied by the fact that the number of women involved in Engineering in Europe is increasing too slowly, a consortium (teams from seven countries) was created in 2001 with the aims to understand why is this the case, and to study means which exist and are effective in attracting women into Engineering training. In particular, an hypothesis was tested: does a significant percentage of Human and Social Sciences included in the training make a difference? Case studies in the different countries involved in the project and in four different technical fields were chosen. Interviews and questionnaires were used in order to have the point of view of academics and employers about women engineers, their training and their career. The report was presented to the EU in September 2002. Based on the study, conclusions and recommendations have been written, and are presented in the paper.     

Men,Women and Data Systems

This article discusses the possibility that changing the arrangement of computer courses, from being associated with technical and mathematical subjects to becoming broader courses based on social subjects and arts as well, would lead to an increase in the proportion of women studying and working in this field. It is also shown that most likely a change in this direction would effect the type of technology that is developed, provided that the methods of work are developed to integrate technical subjects into a whole and involve the users in an equal co-operation. This will make technology more user-friendly and better suited to the needs of the organisation.     

Accessing parental perspectives to inform the development of parent training in autism in south-eastern Europe

Parent training has been shown to be an important means of supporting families living with autism – but such services are not universally accessible. A multinational project funded by the European Commission has been developed in order to establish such parent training in three south-eastern European countries. To ensure that the training was relevant and appropriate, a survey was carried out in autumn 2015 to ascertain the attitudes of parents of children with autism in Croatia, Cyprus and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia regarding this issue, and to identify the areas of training that they felt most important. Two hundred and fifty-three surveys were distributed, and 148 were returned, a response rate of 58%. Respondents in the three counties were overwhelmingly positive about parent training, with almost 90% stating that they would like to attend such training. Weekend training sessions were preferred by the majority of respondents. There was wide variation between the three countries with regard to what content was felt important to be included, with parents in the FYR of Macedonia seeking information in the greatest number of areas. Five topics were prioritised by parents across all three countries. These were: ? Strategies for enhancing my child’s communication

? Strategies on facilitating my child’s interaction with other children

? Sensory integration and development

? General information on behavioural management strategies

? Identifying and/or developing socialisation opportunities

     

Statement on Education and Equality of Opportunity for Girls and Women

The European Ministers of Education, at the Eleventh Session of the Standing Conference,** adopt the following Statement:

Discussion at the Eleventh Session of the Standing Conference has shown that a high degree of formal equality exists for girls and women in education. At the same time the discussion has also revealed awareness of the fact that formal equality in education has not been sufficient to achieve factual equality of opportunity for girls and women either in the educational system or in the life for which it is a preparation.     

The foundation of a joint electrical engineering degree scheme within Europe

In the last decade, the field of Electrical Engineering has been at the forefront in the development of joint industrial projects within Western Europe. This trend, together with the ever increasing number of cooperative ventures between European countries and other countries lying outside Europe, has led to a demand for engineers who are equipped to pursue a career in an international context. It would appear, therefore, that the training of engineers should both anticipate and reflect these developments. Not only should their education be of the highest intellectual and scientific standard; it should also aim to develop students' skills in foreign languages, and an ability to work with people of different nationalities in cultural environments other than their own.     

Connecting with the World of Work: horizontal accountability processes in institutions providing Vocational Education and Training (VET)

In VET systems, connectivity with the world of work has been on the agenda for many years: for Western and Southern European countries, since the 1980s as a consequence of the 1973 oil crisis, and then for Central and Eastern European countries, since the early 1990s. In the last few decades, awareness has grown that European prosperity depended heavily on the skills of the workforce and the innovativeness and competitiveness of the economy. In the EU, it has long been acknowledged that VET plays a key role in integrating young people in the labour market and providing skills and competences that foster innovation and entrepreneurship. More recently, VET has also been seen as a precondition to overcome the current economic crisis in Europe. This article analyses how institutions that provide VET can address these demands. It begins by describing European VET policy, characterising it as soft governance. Furthermore, based on data and insights from CEDEFOP and OECD research and publications, an overview is given of strategies and measure es and of the practice of VET providers connecting and cooperating with the world of work throughout Europe. The article goes on to analyse in greater depth the concept of horizontal accountability and stakeholder theory, providing a framework to study the external orientation and connectivity with the world of work of VET colleges in The Netherlands. The Dutch VET system is described and compared with other systems in Europe. Drawing on empirical data, the horizontal accountability processes in which Dutch VET colleges engage are unravelled, examining with which parties and about what they connect. Finally, some conclusions are proposed.     

International Visions of Excellence for Children with Disabilities

The needs of children in general and of children with disabilities in particular are not a high priority in most countries of the world. The United Nations estimates that there are 140 million disabled children in the world, 127 million of whom live in developing countries. One hundred million children are still without basic education, two thirds of them are girls; one in four adults is illiterate, two thirds of whom are women. In most of Asia and Africa, only about 1% of children with disabilities attend any form of school. Nevertheless there is progress to report. Some 80% of the world's children have been immunised for major disabling illnesses. But half of the 35 million children who die and the 35 million who become disabled each year could be prevented by the use of knowledge which is already available. There is also progress to report in early intervention, in community based rehabilitation and in partnership with families and communities. Responsibility for the education of disabled children is being assumed by ministries of education, most of whom are committed to the principle of education in ordinary schools. The UN and international agencies are stimulating and supporting innovation. More attention is being given to development and training of personnel.     

'Spice Girls', 'Nice Girls', 'Girlies', and 'Tomboys': Gender discourses,girls' cultures and femininities in the primary classroom

The past decade has seen a growing political and academic concern with boys' underachievement. Drawing on the case study of a London primary classroom, this article argues that contemporary gendered power relations are more complicated and contradictory than the new orthodoxy that girls are doing better than boys suggests. The girls in this case study took up very varied positions in relation to traditional femininities. Yet, despite widely differentiated practices, all the girls at various times acted in ways which bolstered boys' power at the expense of their own. While peer group discourses constructed girls as harder working, more mature and more socially skilled, still the boys and a significant number of the girls adhered to the view that it is better being a boy. The article concludes that in this particular primary school, girls and boys still learned many of the old lessons of gender relations which work against gender equity.     

The complexities and challenges of regional education hubs: focus on Malaysia

The race to establish regional education hubs is a recent development in cross-border higher education. This article briefly examines the rationales and strategies used by three countries in the Middle East and three in South East Asia which are working towards positioning themselves as regional education hubs. The different approaches and purposes among the six countries highlight the need for a typology of education hubs. Three types are proposed: the student hub, the training and skilled workforce hub, and the knowledge/innovation hub. The final section of the paper takes a closer look at Malaysia??s cross-border education initiatives and its actions to establish itself as a competitive education hub in a region where Singapore and Hong Kong have similar intentions. Whether Malaysia has the ability to make a quantum leap from being a student hub to becoming a knowledge/innovation hub remains to be seen and appears to be an optimistic outlook.