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…

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…

Minoritized students in civil engineering frequently experience subtle negative attitudes or biases based on their race and gender. These subtle attitudes and biases are known as microaggressions and are reasons for low self-efficacy and retention in civil engineering. Previous studies demonstrated the prevalence of microaggressions in engineering…

To increase interest in chemical engineering and introduce non-traditional chemical engineering fields to high school women, an outreach activity focused on the biomedical applications of polymers was developed. Surveys given to students before and after the activity demonstrated greater agreement with the statements "I am interested in…

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…

Using the Parental Socialization Framework, this research provides a detailed analysis of how early STEM exposure, parental confidence in abilities, and gender-neutral upbringing contribute to the development of STEM identities among women. Employing a hermeneutic phenomenological approach, six undergraduate women engineering majors were…

A synergetic approach to combine service learning at the university level with a high school outreach program is described. A holistic view is presented by discussing the importance of outreach and service learning, survey results, and outcomes. Overall, it was found that the unique program increased the self-efficacy (belief about one's…

This study documents how hegemonic masculinity is experienced through the lens of five female students registered in an engineering course using a single instrumental case study research contextualised in a national university in Mauritius. It analyses how these relations and interactions are interpreted and integrated in the ways the participants…

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…

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,"…

Contribution: This study examined the role of the engineering and smartness identities of three women as they made decisions about their participation in engineering majors. In addressing the under-representation of women in engineering, particularly in electrical engineering and computer science fields where they have been extremely…

Engineering is critical for socio-economic development, however only a few women participate in engineering education and careers. This study aimed to identify the types of negative information propagated by the social networks of engineering students that could create barriers to students, and particularly women's retention in engineering…

The purpose of this study was to address issues of potential gender bias in pre-service elementary teachers' conceptions of engineers and engineering using Freire's (2018) "Critical Consciousness" perspective. By identifying the biasness as causal and structural attributions, the study also aimed to construct a critical pedagogy…