Gender and Civil Engineering in Higher Education: The Case of Mauritius

Noshmee Devi Baguant

doi:10.5430/ijhe.v10n1p157

Abstract

Engineering plays a crucial role in everyday life and is the backbone of growth and development of the world including Mauritius. To embrace development, higher education institutions have to ensure that students are equipped with appropriate knowledge and skills to meet the needs of the country. Unfortunately, data shows that there is an underlying gender disparity in civil engineering training in higher education. It is imperative to understand the causes of gender inequity in engineering in higher education. This paper summarises the findings obtained from in-depth critical individual conversations with three participants, which explored the under-representation of undergraduate female students in a civil engineering degree in a higher education institution in Mauritius. The aim was to find ways in which the recruitment of female students in higher education and advancement of women in the field of civil engineering can be achieved. The findings support the ‘non-visibility’ of civil engineering as a field to study by women and the need to fit in as an engineer by women. As a result of the research, recommendations were made to assist policy and decision makers to develop evidence-based policies to address gender inequity in engineering in higher education.

Highlights

1.1 Introduce the ProblemIn 2014, women constituted only 25% of the engineering majors such as Manufacturing, Mechanical, Mechatronics, Civil, Electrical and Electronic Engineering in higher education in Mauritius (Tertiary Education Commission, 2014)
This essentially leads to a situation where female students are entering the field at a cost that perhaps explains why female students continue to be discouraged from studying a civil engineering major
Pseudonyms were used to refer to the participants to ensure the anonymity and confidentiality of the information provided by participants – Salima from Year 2, Nisha from Year 1 and Emma from Year 1 enrolled on a civil engineering major

Summary

Introduction

1.1 Introduce the ProblemIn 2014, women constituted only 25% of the engineering majors such as Manufacturing, Mechanical, Mechatronics, Civil, Electrical and Electronic Engineering in higher education in Mauritius (Tertiary Education Commission, 2014). It is still true that female students in engineering often have to cope with a “chilly” environment (Flam, 1991), and feelings of non-belonging (Walton and Cohen, 2007), which can lead to negative wellbeing outcomes (Cohen, Garcia, Purdie-Vaughns, Apfel & Brzustoski, 2009). This essentially leads to a situation where female students are entering the field at a cost that perhaps explains why female students continue to be discouraged from studying a civil engineering major. This study aimed at answering the following two research questions: a) What are the factors influencing the participation of female students in civil engineering?

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Conclusion