Contributing Factors to the Under-Representation of Women in Undergraduate Engineering

Abstract

This research study aims to explore the factors which influence the under-representation of women within the engineering field. These factors can cause women to avoid participating within engineering programs at the high school or undergraduate level, or leave the engineering field at the professional level. This exploration focuses mainly on the influences affecting young girls at the beginning and throughout the educational pipeline, including gendered stereotypes, perpetuated by children’s toys, adult impressed expectations, academic confidence levels, media perception, and a lack of female role models. A qualitative survey was conducted, with participants being comprised of undergraduate students attending Oakland University, to compare resulting trends to those found within existing research regarding the influence of these factors.