‘They're not girly girls’: an exploration of quantitative and qualitative data on engineering and gender in higher education

Barnard, Sarah; Hassan, Tarek M.; Bagilhole, Barbara; Dainty, Andrew R.J.

doi:10.1080/03043797.2012.661702

Cited by 41 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 21 publications

(16 reference statements)

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“…Concerns about positive discrimination can also be a hinder in the question of encouraging women into engineering (Barnard et al, 2012). For example, if we focused on gender differences (as they are perceived today) and designed an education in line with what we thought that female students sought, it would only reproduce a gender division and reaffirm essentialist thinking (Frieze & Quesenberry, 2013).…”

Section: Motivation and Hindersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Newly established programmes apply interdisciplinary content and methods as well as a more holistic and broader contextual approach, e.g. environmental engineering, health and medical technologies, media studies, systems engineering, design and biotechnology (Barnard et al, 2012;Kolmos et al, 2013). To make the technology more tangible can provide a connection to real life and thus provide a purpose and relevance to learn programming (Zimmermann & Sprung, 2008).…”

Section: Motivation and Hindersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Women in male dominated fields tend to maintain contradictory views, by upholding the gendered stereotypes but also subscribing to ideals about the accessibility and inclusiveness (Powell, Dainty & Bagilhole, 2012). When constructing an identity, female students separate and distance themselves from "normal women" to be an exception from the rule, "one-of-the-guys", as not to be seen as an outsider, often by undermining and downplaying their femininity (Salminen-Karlsson, 2002;Barnard et al, 2012;Sele, 2012). In order to develop positive gender identities, perceptions of the gendered nature of engineering must be challenged on an individual level (Powell, Dainty & Bagilhole, 2012).…”

Section: Stereotypesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Intrinsic motivation is an important factor for females to choose to apply and persist in computer science, varying cultural and socio cultural contexts can thus cause women to move on to other domains on which to base their identity and self-esteem, such as fields that emphasizes social imperatives (Barnard et al, 2012;Doubé & Lang, 2012). The masculine culture that surround technology can also affect career choice for women who stay in the field, where they are drawn to areas less associated with the masculine stereotype, such as user interfaces, quality assurance or project management (Faulkner, 2007;Rode, 2011;Doubé & Lang, 2012).…”

Section: Motivation and Hindersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The decision to study engineering is a mixture of and influenced by interests, ability, knowledge, self-image and perceptions of the subject (Barnard et al, 2012;Ngambeki et al, 2012). To encourage more females to subjects such as Computer Science may not only be to change the subject in itself, but to change the perception of the subject and through that women's perceptions of themselves in the field (Dempsey et al, 2015).…”

Section: Motivation and Hindersmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Gender neutrality improved completion rate for all

Svedin

Bälter

2016

Computer Science Education

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The purpose of the present study was to investigate if we could improve throughput by refurbishing an online programming course from a gender perspective, while maintaining the focus on preferable learning approaches. The study builds on results from an earlier study that investigated the relationship between approaches to learning and course completion and involves 1067 students that responded to the short version of the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST) in 2010, 2012 and 2013. Three principles for course material design were identified; gender neutral and non-biased messages, emphasize the interdisciplinary approach and link to everyday examples. Responses to ASSIST were analysed in relation to performed changes in the course literature from a gender perspective. The probability to complete the course increased with 7 percentage points for all students, in particular for males, and decreased for students with a high score in surface approach to learning, especially among females.

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Section: Motivation and Hindersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Motivation and Hindersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Stereotypesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Motivation and Hindersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Motivation and Hindersmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Gender neutrality improved completion rate for all

Svedin

Bälter

2016

Computer Science Education

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STEM: A help or a hinderance in attracting more girls to engineering?

Naukkarinen

Bairoh²

2020

J of Engineering Edu

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Background: Research on gender differences and practical initiatives to attract girls to engineering are often carried out at the macro level where science, technology, engineering, and mathematics are aggregated into an entity called STEM. Purpose/Hypothesis: This article challenges the aggregated approach, analyzes gender differences among science and engineering applicants in Finland, and discusses the implications of the findings for engineering education and intervention initiatives.Design/Method: The data consist of the application choices of all applicants to Bachelor studies in Finland in 2016 (151,369 individuals), from which two groups were selected: persons whose first application choice was engineering/ technology and persons whose first choice was natural sciences or mathematics.The application choices of these individuals (in total 9,104) are statistically described and analyzed. Results: Engineering/technology (TECH) and natural sciences and mathematics (SCIMA) subjects are not perceived as alternative options by female applicants. Almost 60% of all female TECH applicants and more than 50% of the female SCIMA applicants apply only to their respective programs. Moreover, TECH applicants considering other options prefer other subjects to SCIMA and vice versa.Conclusions: Encouraging more girls to study STEM is not a sufficient solution for attracting more women to engineering. Instead of or in addition to encouraging girls to study science and mathematics in K-12 education, it is necessary to open the black box of technology and help young people better understand what engineering is about. K E Y W O R D S gender diversity, higher education, identity, STEM

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Gender, prior knowledge, and the impact of a flipped linear algebra course for engineers over multiple years

Hardebolle

Verma

Tormey

et al. 2022

J of Engineering Edu

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Background Research shows that active pedagogies could play an important role in achieving more equitable outcomes for diverse groups of students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Although flipped classes are a popular active methodology, there is a lack of high‐quality studies assessing their impact in ecologically valid settings and exploring how outcomes are related to gender and to prior education. Purpose This paper presents two modified replications of an experimental study investigating the impact of the flipped class approach on students' achievement in a large, first‐year class in an engineering bachelor's degree. Methodology We added a new strand, progressively flipped over 3 years, to eight parallel strands of a high‐stakes mandatory linear algebra course for engineers. The study followed a replicated‐between‐subjects design, with students in the flipped strand learning the same material as those in the other strands and taking the same final exam. Results Our results demonstrate that the flipped format did not have any significant impact on students' achievement compared to traditional lecturing. However, both replications in the flipped condition show a reduced attainment gap for women and students with less prior knowledge in mathematics. Conclusion While the flipped class seems to have weaker effects on learning than other active methodologies, the evidence in this study indicates that it may have an impact on reducing the attainment gap between different groups of students. It may therefore be particularly interesting to consider in efforts to achieve more equitable outcomes for women and where students have heterogeneous educational backgrounds.

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‘They're not girly girls’: an exploration of quantitative and qualitative data on engineering and gender in higher education

Cited by 41 publications

References 21 publications

Gender neutrality improved completion rate for all

Gender neutrality improved completion rate for all

STEM: A help or a hinderance in attracting more girls to engineering?

Gender, prior knowledge, and the impact of a flipped linear algebra course for engineers over multiple years

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