The benefits of comparing grapefruits and tangerines: a toolbox for European cross-cultural comparisons in engineering education—using this toolbox to study gendered images of engineering among students

Abstract

The main objective of the WomEng European research project was to assess when, how and why women decide to or not to study engineering. This question was addressed through an international cross-comparison by an interdisciplinary research team in seven European countries. This article presents, in the first part, the methodological toolbox developed by the WomEng consortium, combining qualitative and quantitative methodologies. In the second part it illustrates how this toolbox has been used for empirical research on images of masculinity and femininity among engineering students in different European countries. The study emphasizes how the feeling of being part of a minority is refuted in an ambiguous attitude by female engineering students in some countries and appears familiar in others. This example demonstrates the benefits of a comparative research strategy and the issues that can be raised through that methodology.