Self-Efficacy in Undergraduate Women in Engineering - A Case Study

Abstract

Self-efficacy refers to the belief in a persons' ability to perform a specific task. Although efficaciousness applies to any situation, it is particularly important in choosing and executing constructive actions in situations that are perceived as negative or a barrier to success. Self-efficacy has been found to be an important factor in the success of women studying engineering. Given that women are generally under-represented in engineering classrooms specially in fields like Mechanical, civil, Automobile etc., a strong sense of efficacy can help them to persist in such situations. Earlier studies have found that Starting in middle school, girls tend to underestimate their abilities in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). This confidence gap among girls persists through high school into college. This gap is presumed to be partially responsible for the gender gap in engineering and other STEM fields. A number of studies have been conducted on women in engineering but a very few studies have focused on the issue of self-efficacy. The present study was designed to test the self efficacies of women in three engineering institutes. The study was carried on for two consecutive years for a sample of 100 women from each Institute for two years i.e. a total of 600 women students had participating in the survey. The self -efficacy will be measured by LAESE survey instrument (longitudinal assessment of engineering self-efficacy). LAESE is a validated instrument developed via the NSF-funded Assessing Women in Engineering (AWE) project. LAESE provides results in six sub-scales i.e. 1. Engineering self-efficacy 1 2. Engineering career expectations 3. Engineering self-efficacy II 4. Feeling of inclusion 5. Efficacy in coping with difficulties 6. Math outcomes efficacy Our analysis plans to examine the data for longitudinal differences in the subscales and will also include disaggregated analysis by institution and year-standing.