Gender in Engineering Education
Contribution to GASAT 8, January 5 - 10, 1996

Gerd Brandell
Department of Mathematics 
Lule‘ University
S 97187 Lule‘
Sweden
email: gerd.brandell@sm.luth.se

Abstract: 
The project "Gender in engineering education" started during the academic year 91/92. Its main goal
is to address gender imbalance of engineering education by focusing on the educational system itself.
The project is carried out at Lule‘ University. A survey of gender differences in the attitudes towards
the education among engineering students has been made. Efforts are made to influence the
academic and administrative staff in order to create more awareness of gender differences and to
encourage reflection on their role in engineering education. Ideas how to create a more gender
inclusive teaching program have been discussed and partly carried out. The most far-reaching is a
new program in computer engineering admitting only women, and where teaching will be delivered
in single-sex group during the first part of the studies. The program will start the academic year
95/96. Integration between subjects and focusing on applications right from the beginning are
leading pedagogical ideas. The program is well received among female students in their last year at
the Swedish gymnasium.

Key words: Gender, Engineering Education, Computer Engineering Education, Survey,  Gender
differences, Single-sex, Recruiting of women

My background, Lule‘ University
I got my training as a mathematician at Stockholm University and have been teaching mathematics to
engineering students during the main part of my professional life, first at Linkšping University, later
on at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm and since 1980 at Lule‘ University. 
  Lule‘ University is relatively young and dominated by its technical faculty with research and
education in several engineering areas. Lule‘ University has been more successful in recruiting
women into engineering than other technical universities in Sweden. The creation of the House of
Technology, situated in the university campus has contributed to raise the interest in gender questions
among the university staff. See [7] for an account of the House of Technology and its relation to
gender and technology.
  
A Centre for Women Studies has been established at Lule‘ University with its main research area
being Gender and Technology. At the Centre a course on Feminist Perspectives on Science and
Technology has been given as an optional course to engineering students since 1991.  The course has
contributed to competence and interest among staff and students in gender topics. A description of
the course is found in Benckert & Staberg [1].

Introduction
Engineering education and profession is strongly sex biased. This is true in Sweden as well as in other
countries. Out of all professionally active engineers in Sweden only 13% are female. The proportion
of women is somewhat higher among students. One out of five engineering students is female.
Among the teaching staff the proportion of women is well under 10%. This is in sharp contrast with
the general situation where Swedish women actually outnumber men in academic education at
undergraduate level.
  
The Swedish parliament, the government and the National Board of Universities have declared as their
goal to attract more than 40% women students into engineering education by the beginning of the
next century. So there still is a long way to go.
  
Why then should we strive for more women in engineering? Four main arguments are mentioned in
the Swedish debate:

	- The recruitment argument: There are not enough male students to fill the needs for more
engineers in the future.

	úEquity argument: Women should have equal opportunities and equal possibilities to go into
engineering.

	-Power argument: Engineering as a profession represents a lot of power in society and power
ought to be shared between all groups.

	-Value and culture argument: Women might bring other values into engineering and change
the culture of technology.
  

The issue of educating more female engineers is not controversial as long as the tacit assumption is
that female students are the ones who have to adjust themselves to the existing system. Most people
involved in engineering education, including the female engineering students themselves, do not
question this assumption. 
  
Substantial efforts have been made during the last fifteen years to get more women into engineering
education. Due to these efforts and for other reasons the proportion of women among the newly
registered engineering students has increased. But the rather rapid increase from 14% to 20% during
the early eighties has slowed down and turned into something that looks almost like a stagnation
during the last ten years, from 20% 1985 to 22% 1994.

Changing the education - not the women!

The stagnation of the proportion of women among the newcomers clearly indicates that we ought to
look more closely into engineering education itself. Besides trying to influence the attitudes of
women we ought to reflect upon the system of education itself. Engineering education, its structure
and content, is created by men for men and built on strong male attitudes and traditions. Maybe this
is one of the reasons why engineering still fails to attract women. Maybe more women would choose
engineering education if the educational system in itself was altered in some respects? 
 
 How do we find out what the possible alterations are that might be favourable? In the project Gender
in Engineering Education we turn to female (and male) engineering students and to members of the
teaching staff in the hope to get some ideas of what a more gender inclusive education would be like.
If in the future more women enter engineering education and more women join the academic staff
the process of transforming the education into a gender inclusive one might become easier. 

Aims for the project 

About two thousand five hundred students are engaged in engineering programmes at Lule‘
University. The University offers nine programs in engineering. The project Gender in Engineering
Education is directed towards engineering students, staff and administrators at the University of
Lule‘. 
  
The project has three main goals: 

	- to survey possible gender differences in the attitudes of female and male students towards
engineering education, its structure, content and organisation. 

	- to start a process to make students, teachers and administrators of the university aware of the
possibility that men and women may regard their education differently, that they may have different
expectations and different experiences when they enter the system. 

	- to alter the content and structure of the educational programmes in certain respects in order
to meet the expectations of female students .
  
Changing an educational system is a slow process. Only selective measures can be taken in this
project. If they turn out to be profitable, they can serve as guide and inspiration for the future.
  
Other researchers who have investigated the ways of understanding of female students in engineering
education and their situation in a similar perspective are Elin Kvande [10],  Annette Kolmos [9],
Agneta Gšransson [4] and Maj-Britt Hanstršm [6]. None of these however have made a direct
coupling to concrete interventions. The KIM-project where KIM stands for Women In Mathematics
(in Swedish) has involved actions towards a more gender inclusive education in mathematics at
university level and is described in [8] .

Carrying out the project 

In 1991 the project started in a small scale. A preliminary report [2] from 1993 covers the first phase
of the project. In short the following has been carried through:
	- inquires and interviews with students
	- seminars with academic and administrative staff
	- cooperation with the Departments for Mechanical Engineering and the Department for
Computer Science and Electrical Engineering
  
The reactions from students have mostly been positive. Many commented on the inquiries or the
interviews and pointed out that the survey was a good idea and that they hoped that the results would
in some way influence their education. 

Gender differences - a discussion

Engineering is associated with masculinity in our society. According to Sandra Harding [5] we can
identify gender differences at three different levels, the structural, the symbolic and the individual
level. On a structural level, engineering as a profession is strongly dominated by men - actually the
only remaining strongly male-dominated academic education in Sweden. On a symbolic level, both
the engineer and the engineering student is viewed as a man.  We have all seen innumerable examples
of engineering being strongly associated with masculinity the literature, in advertising, in commercials
etc. On an individual level engineering is gendered when as an example a young girl has less contacts
with technical toys or when her brother - not she - helps the father fix the car.
  
It is not an easy matter to see through all three levels. An example might illustrate this.  When asked if
male students get more attention from teachers, one female student answered that it is difficult to
identify what "equal" amount of attention would be, considering that women are used to less
attention throughout school. 
  
Great care must be taken while recognising and interpreting differences in attitudes and experiences
between the sexes. Female and male students show the same spectrum of attitudes but one sex tends to
hold one viewpoint more often than the other.
  
In the following, while I account for some of the gender differences that I have found in the answers
to interviews and inquires, I will sometimes generalise and describe differences between "female
students" and "male students" while in reality it is a matter of differences between a majority of the
female students and a majority of the male students. Even small differences can have important
consequences..

Gender differences - findings

Choice of engineering areas
Although there are few women in engineering education in general, the situation differs a lot between
various areas of engineering. The picture is about the same at all universities. Out of the four
ÓclassicalÓ fields of engineering (mechanical, electrical, civil and chemistry) chemistry is the only
one where women are well represented. In civil engineering, women are in clear minority, while
mechanical as well as electrical engineering are strongly male-dominated. 
 
 I will account here for the situation at my university. In total women make up 25% of the
engineering students at Lule‘ University. We can group the various engineering programs into three
clearly separated groups: unbiased (40-60% women and 25% of all the students), biased (20-30%
women and 35% of all students) and strongly biased (less than 10% women and 40% of all students).
  
Women tend to prefer a couple of relatively new engineering programs where environmental aspects
are important or where the context is international and languages are studied extensively . On the
other hand female students avoid classical fields like mechanical and electrical engineering. In
inquires and interviews female students attach great importance to broad competence for an engineer,
while male students stress the necessity of deep specialisation .

Education in general, teachers and their attitudes 
Most students, both female and male, get on well with their studies at Lule‘. But more male students
indicate that their contact with the teachers is good in general while more women state that they have
good contact with some teachers and worse with others. 
  
One speciality for the university is teaching in "small" groups, which means groups of about 25 to
30 persons, thereby avoiding huge lecture groups that are common at other technical universities.
The method is called classroom teaching. Most students prefer this teaching method but female
students appreciate it even more than male students do. The same is true for laboratory work.
  
Women value the pedagogical as well as academic competence of the teacher higher than men do
when asked to indicate on a scale how important teachers competence is for students results. 
  
Some female students encounter teachers treating them differently than their fellow male students.
One such example is the teacher who neglects the female student who puts forward a question and
addresses the answer to a male student sitting next to her. Female students might on the other hand
get more attention than the male students, and the attention might be positive or negative. Sometimes
teachers apparently have a good intention in giving a woman student extra attention or different
treatment but does not apprehend a negative reaction to this from the student herself.
  
Other teachers might explicitly state that women are not suited for engineering - sometimes joking
about it, which creates ambiguity about the teachers view. However openly stated negative attitudes of
this kind seem to be uncommon. It seems clear that the female students themselves are the ones that
give attention to differences in treatment. Most of the teachers and the male students do not seem to
give notice.
  
It is common that teachers find female students more ambitious and careful with their coursework. 

Fellow students and social atmosphere
It is common that women choose women and men choose men when working together with other
students, either during class or out of class. The fewer the women are, the stronger the tendency seems
to be that they turn to each other. Women cooperate with other students outside class to a greater
extent than do men. More men - although a small minority - seem to work almost isolated from other
students. 
  
Negative attitudes towards women engineers are demonstrated now and then by male students. Often
it is made under the cover of a joke.
 
 It was also described by both men and women during the interviews that the situation during class
was much like what is well-known among younger students. The men dominate by talking louder and
more, by being restless or agitated, by interrupting the teacher or other students. Teachers experience
that the atmosphere in a fairly balanced class is more agreeable than in classes with a very small
proportion of female students. In the all-male groups the atmosphere might be somewhat rude.

Attitudes towards being a woman in engineering education 
When female students were asked "Is there anything positive in being a woman in engineering
education?" most of them could give examples of that, as well as of negative factors. One of the
negative aspects was that they felt "invisible" or had difficulties getting attention. On the other hand
among the positive things mentioned was the fact that female students get positive attention and
encouragement. Interestingly enough women experience quite opposite attitudes in different
situations.
  
Another example of this is the following. Female students are sometimes viewed upon as less
technically competent. They can profit from this at some moment by easily getting help from a
fellow student during laboratory work, but might in another situation feel underestimated and not
challenged enough by a teacher or a fellow student when encountering a certain problem. 
  
Since technology is so strongly connected with masculinity, male students tend to overestimate their
own technical competence. When they express this attitude they transfer to the female students an
unrealistic view of men being more competent. 
  
Almost all female students that were interviewed found it important to recruit more female academic
staff.

Recommendations

The following are - in a summarised form - some of the recommendations that are supported by the
survey:

	- Listen to the female students! This can be done systematically e g by incorporating sex as
one variable throughout the process of evaluating the education. Paying extra attention to the opinion
of the minority might create ideas of possible improvements,.

	- Give equal attention and challenge to female and male students! Avoid treating female
students as less capable. Avoid giving exaggerated attention to females but be aware of the imminent
risk of unconsciously giving priority to male students.

	ú_Improve pedagogical praxis!
	ú_Female students are more motivated or skilled e g in written or oral presentation Give
higher values to achievements of this kind! 
	ú_Introduce optional subjects in the curriculum! Broaden the curriculum by including
language, humanities, law, social science etc.
	- Introduce new engineering programs with emphasis on e g environment!
	- Be observant of the social climate in student groups!
	- Give every female student the option of working together with other female students! Let all
students experience working in mixed groups!
	- Fight actively against prejudices against women in engineering, both among staff and
among students!
	- Find ways to recruit more female academic staff!
	- Create and support networks among the female students!

Working in the direction indicated above would probably contribute to a better education for all
students - not only the women!
 
Single-sex program in Computer Engineering

Background 
Since the establishing of a program in computer engineering at Lule‘ University 1982 a total of
about 1000 computer engineering students have been admitted,  70 of them women. Only 15 women
have been admitted during the last five years, compared to 45 the foregoing five years. The future
prospect is an all-male program! This extreme situation justified the radical idea of starting a
single-sex program - as far as we know the only single-sex education at academic level in Sweden.

Goal
The main long-term goal is to attain a more gender balanced situation among professional computer
engineers, thereby letting the experiences of both men and women influence the continued and rapid
development of information technology. Another goal is to secure the recruitment of good students
to computer engineering.

Single-sex group
The program is directed exclusively towards women. Female students with the background normally
required for engineering education are relatively few. Therefore, in this project, we turn to women
with another background from school and who therefore need a supplement of courses in
mathematics and science. 
  
During the first two years out of 5.5 years the students study in an all-female group. Later on they
are integrated with the other students of computer engineering into mixed groups. Some of the
reasons for the single-sex setting are the following:

	- It obviously fulfils the goal that is to recruit more female students.

	- It is a clear message from the university that gender balance and female students are highly
valued.

	- The women will be spared the common male dominance.

	úHackers - who exist among the male computer engineering students - will not negatively
influence the self-esteem of the other students.

	úAn identity as woman and computer engineer can be developed by the female students
together with their teachers without continuous and apparent conflict between the two concepts of
femininity and of a computer engineer. 

	- Different attitudes towards information technology and its use in society might be
developed. 

Leading ideas
The goals of the program coincide with ordinary computer engineering, but some of the courses will
be tailored for this education. The leading ideas are to give a  comprehensive view and introduce
applications already during the first year.
  
Some courses will be problem oriented. Teaching methods that encourage or demand cooperation
will be used. To use such relatively uncommon methods throughout the whole education would not
be possible or credible in the existing system. Therefore the goal is more restricted. The students
normally take three courses at a time. The goal is to let at least one out of the three be
ÓuntraditionalÓ, either by letting the students work in a different way or by developing different
skills.
  
Students will have greater influence than is common on their own education. Among other things
they will be involved from the very beginning in developing one new course. The theme
"Information Technology" is given while the content will be decided upon by the students. The
course will be developed during the first year and given during the second.

Involving teachers and students
Teachers are encouraged to reflect on gender and teaching, as well as gender and technology.
Seminars for teachers treating gender questions have been given and will be given during the whole
process of creating this new education.
  
Several teachers from different departments are involved. At the Division for Computer Science and
Engineering, where the main responsibility lays, all teachers are more or less involved in the process. 
The very active leader of the program is the professor in computer science at this division - clearly a
person with a lot of prestige in the system.
  
The attitudes of the teachers are important and so far we feel that the teachers who are directly or
indirectly involved with the first year students are very positive. It remains to influence teachers at
other divisions, participating later on in the education. Most of them are positive to the idea of getting
more women into engineering. The mere fact that some of them will be teaching an all-female group
of students in a near future might give a strong impulse to start to reflect on the importance of gender
in education!
   
Through earlier experiences we know that negative reactions are to be expected from some students
who find "special treatment" of women wrong in principle. In order to avoid that the new coming
students will be met by such reactions we have carefully assured us of the support of the great
majority of the students by discussing the whole idea with all groups of students. The response was
overwhelmingly positive, and we got important ideas of how to improve the outline for the program.
  
Integrating the new students socially into the whole group of computer engineering students is
important. We therefore have a special sponsoring program where older students act as sponsors for
the newcomers. The sponsors are prepared for the sponsorship by attending a special one day long
seminar.   

Recruitment, pilot study
The idea of a single-sex program being so radical we felt it necessary to investigate the possible
interest among students before deciding to start such an education. This was done through a pilot
study (see [3]) where almost 200 female students from the last year of school were asked  about their
reactions. To our great surprise over 50% would reflect on applying for this education and more than
50% of these stated that they liked mathematics  as a subject. This last question was put since our
experience is that a positive attitude towards mathematics is crucial for success in engineering studies.
  
The positive prediction was confirmed when over 100 students applied for the new program that is
planned for 30 students and will start in September 1995.

Summary 

Gender differences in attitudes and experiences of engineering students have been found in the
survey. Some recommendations concerning engineering education are formulated that are supported
by the survey. These findings and the recommendations are possible to use in the process of
changing attitudes among staff and students. They are used in the ongoing process of developing the
new program, Computer  Engineering for Women. The combination of surveying gender differences
and developing a more gender inclusive education  has been found practicable. 

References

[1] Benckert, S & Staberg, E-M (1993) Feminist Critiques of Science and Technology in Engineering
Educations. In Transforming Science and Technology: Our Future Depends On It. Contributions to
the Seventh International GASAT conference. Volume II, pp 874-882
[2] Brandell, G & Jacobsson J-E (1993) Hon och han i civilingenjšrsutbildningen (Gender in
Engineering Education, in Swedish). Preliminary report, Lule‘ University
[3] Carlsson, S & Nord, L (1994) Fler kvinnor till datateknik (More women to computer engineering,
in Swedish). Teknisk rapport 1994:22 T, Lule‘ University 
[4] Gšransson, A (1995) Kvinnor och mŠn i civilingenjšrsutbildning (Women and Men in
Engineering Education, in Swedish). Pedagogiska enheten vid FoUbyr‘n, Chalmers University of
Technology, Gšteborg
[5] Harding, S (1986) The science question in feminism. Milton Keynes, Open University Press
[6] Hanstršm, M-B, (1994) Studiemiljš och jŠmstŠlldhet p‘ Kungl. Tekniska Hšgskolan (Study
Environment and Equity at The Royal Institute of Technology, in Swedish). TRITA -FL-4223,
Rapport fr‘n KTHs jŠmstŠlldhetsr‘d, Stockholm
[7] Israelsson, A-M (1993) A Science Centre to serve the Missing Half, In Transforming Science and
Technology: Our Future Depends On It. Contributions to the Seventh International GASAT
conference. Volume II, pp 941-949
[8] Jacobsson, C & Elvin-Nowak Y (1994) Kvinnor i matematiken (Women in mathematics, in
Swedish). Council for the Renewal of Undergraduate Education, Stockholm
[9] Kolmos, A (1989) Kšn og viden i ingenišruddannelsen (in Danish). Skriftserie nr 28, Aalborg
University Centre, Aalborg
[10] Kvande, E (1984) Kvinder og hšgere teknisk utdanning (in Norwegian). IFIM, Trondheim