What Motivates Students to Study Engineering? A Comparative Study between Males and Females in Saudi Arabia

Wafa Labib,Amal Abdelsattar,Abdelhakim Abdelhadi,Yasser Ibrahim

doi:10.3390/educsci11040147

Abstract

Motivation to study engineering in undergraduate study is of great importance to students. It encourages undergraduate students to enroll in an engineering program and continue their studies without dropping out. Male students enroll in engineering programs with large numbers compared to female students in many parts of the world. In Saudi Arabia, there were limited engineering programs for female students. In this research, the motivation to study engineering is studied and compared between male and female students in the College of Engineering at Prince Sultan University, the first private university in Saudi Arabia. The study was conducted through a detailed survey distributed to 41 male engineering management students and 45 female architectural engineering students. These students’ performance and experience were considered and compared considering their gender to evaluate their persistence toward engineering study. According to the results obtained, the highest degree of the parents had a considerable effect on the selection of engineering major for male and female students. Most surveyed male and female students select an engineering major because of its positive impact on the community and its role in improving the way of life. Male students may differ in that they considered engineering in order to start their own business after graduation with a higher percentage compared to female students. There was a very limited role of the school in selecting engineering majors according to the surveyed male and female students. This role should be enhanced and utilized to encourage more female students to consider engineering majors in their college study.

Highlights

Motivation can be defined as the procedure where the goal-oriented activity is activated and sustained
The data were collected using a questionnaire survey distributed to third, fourth, and fifth-year female and male students of the College of Engineering at Prince Sultan University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 2019, who were selected as a sample to be surveyed, forming a sample of 86 cases; 41 male engineering management students and 45 female architectural engineering students participated in the survey, which according to central limit theorem the distribution of the sample means will be approximately normally distributed
The results indicate that the correlation, r, between male and female students’ answers for motivation to study engineering was at 0.754, while the correlation for persistence to study engineering was at 0.787

Summary

Introduction

Motivation can be defined as the procedure where the goal-oriented activity is activated and sustained. Researchers agreed to the one generic definition of motivation: a mental state that inspires the behavior and stimulates the desire to achieve the human mind’s goals [1]. Motivation is known as an academic engagement, which is considered the most powerful of all the influences that affect students’ achievement. Researchers emphasize that academic motivation is the only factor that affects academic achievement directly, while the other factors indirectly affect academic performance through their effect on motivation [1]. Researchers generally agreed that motivation helps academic achievement and learning, as motivated students spend more time in their classes and tend to complete their studies, while the unmotivated students are likely to drop out of their studies [1,2]

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Conclusion