Investigation of students’ experiences of gendered cultures in engineering workplaces

What is it about?

Women remain severely under-represented in engineering in Australia as in all Western countries. This limits the pool of talent, standpoints and approaches within the profession. Furthermore, this underrepresentation equates to restriction of the benefits of being an engineer mainly to men. Gendered workplace experiences have been found to contribute to women leaving the profession. In this study we explore students’ experiences of gendered cultures in engineering workplaces, using interviews with a purposive sample of 13 students (4 male) recruited following a previous survey. Although the overall experience of workplace learning is positive for many students, male and female engineering students reported experiences consistent with masculine cultures. Educators and employers must proactively lead improvements to the culture in engineering workplaces, prepare students for gendered workplaces and support students to reflect during and after workplace experiences. The experiences presented here could be adapted to enhance inclusivity training.

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Why is it important?

Women remain under-represented in the engineering profession in many countries. In Australia, although female engineering students have higher success rates than male engineering students, female engineers leave the profession at higher rates. Workplace experience is a significant part of engineering education, and little attention has been paid to gender inclusivity of students’ workplace experiences. The study revealed the vulnerability of students on placements. Qualitative responses were consistent with gendered workplaces, and female students were more likely than male students to experience interactions known to marginalize the professional identities of professional female engineers. Motivation and self-efficacy of female and male students were affected by masculine workplaces.

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