TY - JOUR
T1 - ‘It's more flexible’
T2 - persistence of women engineers in the academy
AU - Mlambo, Yeukai Angela
AU - Mabokela, Reitumetse Obakeng
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 SEFI.
PY - 2017/5/4
Y1 - 2017/5/4
N2 - The under-representation of women in engineering is an issue of concern for policy-makers. While much of the existing literature has focussed on understanding reasons for women's under-representation in engineering and related technical fields, there is a paucity of research that examines why women who are already in engineering persist. This study aims to answer the question, why do women engineers in academe persist in a discipline that is generally perceived to be inhospitable to women. Three main challenges, namely gender discrimination, lack of institutional and disciplinary support, and the rigid nature of the workplace, emerged as key impediments to women engineers in the private sector. In contrast, women engineers in the academy identified the flexibility offered by academic environments, the presence of personal support networks, and a passion for teaching and students as critical factors that influenced their decision to remain in academia.
AB - The under-representation of women in engineering is an issue of concern for policy-makers. While much of the existing literature has focussed on understanding reasons for women's under-representation in engineering and related technical fields, there is a paucity of research that examines why women who are already in engineering persist. This study aims to answer the question, why do women engineers in academe persist in a discipline that is generally perceived to be inhospitable to women. Three main challenges, namely gender discrimination, lack of institutional and disciplinary support, and the rigid nature of the workplace, emerged as key impediments to women engineers in the private sector. In contrast, women engineers in the academy identified the flexibility offered by academic environments, the presence of personal support networks, and a passion for teaching and students as critical factors that influenced their decision to remain in academia.
KW - South Africa
KW - Women in engineering
KW - faculty persistence
KW - gender
KW - higher education
KW - women in academia
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84961204780&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84961204780&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/03043797.2016.1158790
DO - 10.1080/03043797.2016.1158790
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84961204780
SN - 0304-3797
VL - 42
SP - 271
EP - 285
JO - European Journal of Engineering Education
JF - European Journal of Engineering Education
IS - 3
ER -