Theorizing progress: Women in science, engineering, and technology in higher education

Abstract

A conceptual framework of positions on women in Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) was developed, showing a chronological progression of the main approaches to women’s underrepresentation in SET during the past 20 years. Numerous initiatives have been advocated to address women’s underrepresentation in SET in higher education. This article arose out of one such initiative, Winning Women, which was intended to help higher education in Scotland move toward good practice in this field. Two members of the project team describe their key findings and experiences. They illustrate how the underrepresentation of women in SET continues to be both progressive and persistent (using a SET parity index). The conceptual framework was conceived and developed from a metaanalysis of feminist theories of the gendered politics of science and technology.