Dearth of Women in the Field of Engineering: A Comparative Analysis of Female and Male High School Students
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- The dearth of women in engineering has instigated increased emphasis and research on ways of encouraging more girls to pursue the field. This study adds to the collection of recent research by attempting to understand how different female and male student experiences at the high school level may contribute to the disproportionately low representation of women in the field of engineering. Four variables are identified in the process of investigating possible influences on students’ academic and professional decision-making: self-confidence level of a student, amount of perceived encouragement and support from family and school, perceived availability of economic and career opportunities in the field of engineering, and student’s awareness of role models of his or her gender in the industry. Based on data collected from Advanced Placement Calculus classes at five high schools, the findings indicate that female students, despite actual competence, have lower levels of self-confidence in their mathematical skills and ability to succeed in the field of engineering compared to their male cohorts. Family factors, more than school variables, influence students’ decision-making to pursue or not pursue the field of engineering. Specifically, the relationship between parental education and occupation and students’ intended majors and career choices are investigated. I conclude by placing the topic at hand within the context of the feminist theoretical framework and discussing the source of and possible evolution of the problematization of the dearth of women in the field of engineering.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Date created | December 1999 |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Inoue, Keiko |
|---|
Subjects
| Subject | women engineers |
|---|---|
| Subject | engineering |
| Subject | high school students |
| Subject | Stanford Graduate School of Education International Educational Administration and Policy Analysis |
| Genre | Thesis |
Bibliographic information
| Related item | |
|---|---|
| Location | https://purl.stanford.edu/xr651kd7460 |
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- Use and reproduction
- User agrees that, where applicable, content will not be used to identify or to otherwise infringe the privacy or confidentiality rights of individuals. Content distributed via the Stanford Digital Repository may be subject to additional license and use restrictions applied by the depositor.
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
Collection
Graduate School of Education International Comparative Education Master's Monographs
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- Contact
- kinoue@stanfordalumni.org
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