Engineering outreach programs often portray outreach educators as role models for youth. It is widely believed that introducing youth, especially girls, to potential engineering role models will broaden participation in engineering majors and careers. Based on interviews with and surveys of fourth- and fifth-grade girls participating in an…

Background: Women are underrepresented in the field of engineering within academic and professional settings. Based upon premises outlined by social role theory and goal congruity theory, a key factor that contributes to this underrepresentation is a gendered societal belief that there is a disconnect between engineering (seen as more agentic, or…

There is a considerable lack of women in the engineering disciplines at tertiary level in New Zealand. This is an economic issue because innovation and creativity in engineering are supported by diversity which directly and indirectly supports the New Zealand economy. Improving diversity in engineering will also improve equity. Literature suggests…

Evidence demonstrates that women in Bangladesh are underrepresented both in engineering education and relevant career domains. This study explores the comprehensive experiences of women in their pursuit of engineering, both as a subject of study and as a career in teaching in Bangladesh. Based on in-depth interviews with 15 female undergraduate…

The purpose of this study was to examine the lived experiences of women engineering students through socialization processes during their cooperative education, co-op, experience., in which students gain work experience in their chose industries. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with female engineering students who have completed at least…

Women are increasingly present in the field of engineering, but despite a significant female presence, it has been found that the programs continue to make no reference to women scientists. In chemical engineering, for example, all the names of scientists mentioned in the programs belong to men only. To test this hypothesis of over-representation…

Although there is an extensive amount of research focusing on women in engineering, the engineering field continues to experience the most gender disparity of any workforce disparities within the United States (National Science Foundation, 2018). Engineering has been labeled "the least gender-equitable profession in the United States,"…

A "leaky pipeline" exists for women to obtain a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) leadership position in the United States (U.S.). A deeper dive into what was holding women back from an engineering leadership position is imperative in today's technology-driven world. Utilizing feminist theory as a theoretical lens,…

A "leaky pipeline" exists for women to obtain a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) leadership position in the United States (U.S.). A deeper dive into what was holding women back from an engineering leadership position is imperative in today's technology-driven world. Utilizing feminist theory as a theoretical lens,…

Formation of professional identity is a process where individuals attempt to bring together the social expectations set for them as professionals and their own interests and values. The cultural landscape of engineering is masculine in various ways, which can be challenging especially for female engineers who need to match the cultural…

This paper presents a multi-year study on the impact of attending an engineering summer school on girls' confidence that they could become an engineer. While it is relatively easy to recognise and address tangible barriers to entering an engineering profession -- such as a lack of preparedness in terms of a mathematics or physics background --…

Despite a nearly 40-year history of research initiatives and interventions to recruit and retain women engineering students, women remain significantly underrepresented in engineering. Given the lack of progress, it seems clear that new lenses on the problem of underrepresentation warrant further attention. Higher education policies are one area…

Broadening participation in STEM education programs and boosting the STEM workforce, specifically increasing interest in engineering, has been a growing focus of the U.S. education system (Lawrence & Mancus, 2012; Strimel, Grubbs, & Wells, 2017). The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects overall STEM employment to grow by 8.9% from 2014 to…

Using social cognitive career theory and the cognitive information processing model as frameworks, in this constructivist case study we examined the career-related experiences and decisions of 10 women engineering undergraduate seniors who accepted full-time positions. From the data analysis 3 major themes emerged: critical undergraduate…

Purpose: This paper aims to discuss the term intersectional trap. This is defined as the act of saying blanket statements to describe a race or group of individuals without considering variations of experience within the population. The paper will end with recommendations for research focusing on qualitative studies that explore the lived…