Female Enrollment Research Articles

Do Female Motives for Enrolling Vary According to STEM Profile?

Contribution: Stereotypes and immediate environment are the reasons for low enrollment of women in STEM studies. Background: The low number of women in STEM degree courses has been the subject of much research, which has found that the lack of female enrollment is not evenly distributed across all STEM studies. In some areas, such as computing, communications, and electrical and electronic engineering (CCEEE), not only has the number of women not increased, it has even fallen. Research Questions: Is there a stereotype for women taking STEM studies? Is this stereotype different between women taking CCEEE and non-CCEEE degrees? What are the main reasons that lead women to enroll in STEM studies? Methodology: A survey was sent to 3699 female students and STEM graduates belonging to the authors’ university in six schools with a lowest level of enrollment, and 1060 replies were received. A qualitative study based on data analysis triangulation was performed. Findings: The women surveyed consider social stereotypes (31.47%) and the immediate environment (14.5%) as the main reasons for the low enrollment of women in STEM studies. Surprisingly, the third reason (11.03%) is that women do not like engineering. New knowledge concerning what motivates female students to enroll in STEM studies, what stereotypes they must struggle against, and the existence of possible differences between CCEEE and STEM but non-CCEEE female students could help policy makers and academia to improve female enrollment in STEM and, in particular, in CCEEE studies.

Understanding Female Students’ Choice of a Construction Management Undergraduate Degree Program: Case Study at an Australian University

AbstractThe considerably low female student enrollments in construction management (CM) undergraduate degree programs have continued to draw attention from academia. With a cohort of local and inte...

Engineering Women’s Attitudes and Goals in Choosing Disciplines with Above and Below Average Female Representation

Women’s participation in engineering remains well below that of men at all degree levels. However, despite the low enrollment of women in engineering as a whole, some engineering disciplines report above average female enrollment. We used multiple linear regression to examine the attitudes, beliefs, career outcome expectations, and career choice of first-year female engineering students enrolled in below average, average, and above average female representation disciplines in engineering. Our work begins to understand how the socially constructed masculine cultural norms of engineering may attract women differentially into specific engineering disciplines. This study used future time perspective, psychological personality traits, grit, various measures of STEM identities, and items related to career outcome expectations as theoretical frameworks. The results of this study indicate that women who are interested in engineering disciplines with different representations of women (i.e., more or less male-dominated) have significantly different attitudes and beliefs, career goals, and career plans. This study provides information about the perceptions that women may have and attitudes that they bring with them into particular engineering pathways.

Trends in Undergraduate Soil Science Education at Selected Universities in the USA from 2009 to 2013

Core Ideas Enrollment increased in most soil science courses from 2009 to 2013. Students from many different majors took soil science coursework. Total female enrollment increased, but the percentage of female students decreased. Soil judging participation remained consistent. Student to faculty ratio went up between 2009 and 2013. Data were collected from 10 universities in the United States on declared academic majors and gender of students enrolled in seven different soil science courses over a 5‐yr period. Combined trends for all courses and trends for each individual course were evaluated. Data were also collected on the number of students participating in soil judging as well as tenure track and non‐tenure track full time equivalent (FTE) soil science faculty positions. Environmental science, crop science/horticulture/agronomy, and other agricultural students enrolled in soil science courses in the greatest numbers. Environmental science and engineering students showed rapid increases in enrollment, while crop science/horticulture/agronomy and soil science student enrollment declined. Soil physics was the only class where declared soil science students were the single largest enrolled group. Soil judging numbers were consistent, while FTE faculty showed a slight decline. Students from many different academic majors took soil science courses at the universities investigated, and the most common majors in these courses depended on the course and the material it addressed. Overall student enrollment increased in all subject areas investigated except soil physics. While the results from this study are somewhat mixed, the overall growth in student enrollment in soil science courses at the investigated universities, as well as the broad range of majors enrolled in soil science coursework, indicate an upward trajectory in soil science education at these universities.

Bridging the Gap: Identifying Global Trends in Gender Disparity Among the Radiology Physician Workforce

Women make up half of American medical school graduates, but remain underrepresented among radiologists. This study sought to determine whether workforce gender disparities exist in other countries, and to identify any country-specific indices associated with increased female representation. In this cross-sectional study, 95 professional radiology organizations in 75 countries were contacted via email to provide membership statistics, including proportion of female members, female members aged 35 or under, and women in society leadership positions. Country-specific metrics collected included gross domestic product, Gini index, percent female medical school enrollment, and Gender Development Index for the purposes of univariate multiple regression analysis. Twenty-nine organizations provided data on 184,888 radiologists, representing 26 countries from Europe (n = 12), North America (n = 2), Central/South America (n = 6), Oceania (n = 2), Asia (n = 3), and Africa (n = 1) for a response rate of 34.7% (26/75). Globally, 33.5% of radiologists are female. Women constitute a higher proportion of younger radiologists, with 48.5% of radiologists aged 35 or under being female. Female representation in radiology is lowest in the United States (27.2%), highest in Thailand (85.0%), and most variable in Europe (mean 40.1%, range 28.8%-68.9%). The proportion of female radiologists was positively associated with a country's Gender Development Index (P = .006), percent female medical student enrollment (P = .001), and Gini index (P = .002), and negatively associated with gross domestic product (P = .03). Women are underrepresented in radiology globally, most notably in the United States. Countries with greater representation of women had higher gender equality and percent female medical school enrollment, suggesting these factors may play a role in the gender gap.

Improving the diversity of faculty in electrical and computer engineering (iredefine ece[point of view

As women faculty in electrical and computer engineering (ECE), we have been involved in several efforts targeted at increasing the participation of women in ECE departments. For example, at Rutgers University, we have organized presentations and workshops for first year students that highlighted the societal aspects of ECE, such as bioelectrical engineering applications. Such focus did bear fruit; between 2010 and 2016, the sophomore female enrollment in ECE at Rutgers rose from 11% to 19%. At the University of San Diego, we have conducted research on the demographics and outcomes of undergraduate students in ECE, facilitated workshops to help faculty teach in more inclusive ways, and are currently working on a National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded effort to revolutionize engineering education [1]. Also, as chairs, we have been considering ways to diversify our faculty carefully considering the overall hiring process including innovative approaches such as cluster hires [2], paying close attention to the language used when advertising faculty positions, the discussions during the review of the candidates, the candidate selection criteria, and the interview process [3]. However, the number of diverse graduate students is small to begin with, and in an era in which companies have realized the value of diversity, academia has to compete with companies such as Google and Microsoft for the best Ph.D. graduates. Without a diverse faculty, we cannot sustain a diverse student body.

Visualizing Africa’s Educational Gender Gap

This figure depicts the gendered patterns of educational expansion across Africa. The horizontal axis displays educational access, and vertical lines represent educational gender gaps for 267 country-specific birth cohorts, representing adults born between 1941 and 1992 in 32 African countries. The gaps take on an almond shape. In early stages of educational expansion, boys enter school at higher rates than girls; female enrollment begins to catch up only when at least half of the cohort attends school. Cohorts with the lowest educational access are disproportionately located in West Africa, and most higher-access cohorts are in central and southern Africa. In more than 30 percent of cohorts from central and southern African countries, girls surpass boys in rates of basic educational participation. Africa’s gender inequality is structured not only by regional context and temporal trends but also by a country’s position along the spectrum from scarcity to abundance of educational opportunities.

Influence of family related issues on work life balance

Human capital theory provides an avenue for understanding the direct influence of family based inputs in combination with the work-based inputs on work life balance. From this perspective, it is clear that inter role conflict occurs when one domain interferes with the other and in all probabilities; a struggle to maintain a balance between the two ensues. Family issues varies from region to region. This trend is more specific and important in the Indian context due to its patriarchal nature and traditionally male dominated etiquettes, which add more teeth to family related issues. Similarly, the recent trend of increased female enrolment in paid employment outside home has created particularly peculiar situations in the work places with its wide ranging ramifications on WLB issues. Service sector is one such area witnessing large scale employment opportunities for women. However, studies pertaining to the specific contributions of FRI on the WLB of service sector employees in the Indian context are very limited and there is a dearth of knowledge in this area of research, which has individual, organizational as well as social relevance. Therefore, the present study attempts to fill this gap to the extent to which it is possible so that the major objective of the present study is to test the nature of relationship between FRI and WLB among service sector employees in Chidambaram taluk, Tamil Nadu. The various service sector organizations covered in this study were education, healthcare, finance and banking, information and communication enabled services (ITES), transport, law and order, civil administration and hospitality sectors. The study revealed the presence of three clusters of employees with high, medium and low level of family related issues. High level Family related issues were found to be negatively associated with work-life balance.

Factors Contributing to Gender Disparity in Education in Rural Areas: Evidence from Three Districts of Punjab, Pakistan

Education is an important human capital; and, it is the fundamental right of every human being irrespective of gender to acquire knowledge through education. Social scientists have highlighted the significance of female education without which socio-economic growth, especially in Asia, remains slow. However, gender disparity in education persists in rural peripherals of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bhutan, India, Iran, Nepal and Bangladesh (UNESCO 2015). This deplorable situation is subject to multiple socio-economic and cultural barriers. In order to unveil these militating attributes, present investigation was conducted in three districts of the Punjab province in Pakistan from March to June 2016. The province is divided into three different zones: Northern, Central and Southern. From each zone, one district was purposively selected as the study area. From the selected districts (Sargodha, Khushab and Bhakhar), 100 rural households from each district were selected through multi-stage simple random sampling technique. The data were collected from 300 household heads and from their spouses through in-depth individual interviews to find out the difference in opinion of the male and female respondents. The collected data was analysed using SPSS. Paired t-test was used to find out the difference in responses of male and female respondents. In order to find out the difference in intensity of factors in the three districts, F-test was applied. Results showed that there is highly significant difference between age of male family heads and their spouses (wives) (χ2=50.121 and P<0.05). Similar trend was found in educational status of male heads and their spouses. Cross tabulation indicated that educational status of wives was low as compared to their husbands. Analysis showed that a number of socio-economic factors are responsible for the existing gender disparity with reference to education in the study areas. Respondents identified low income, high educational expenditures, low educational level of parents (especially the mother), and security concerns of parents regarding sexual harassment as the major factors impeding female education. Results of the F-test showed that there exists difference in intensity of factors in the three study districts of Punjab which contribute towards gender disparity in education. Highest intensity (x =2.74/3.00) was found in district Bhakhar as it is a remote district of Punjab with higher poverty rate, followed by district Khushab and Sargodha. It is recommended that the Government at the national level should take serious steps in creating conducive environment to enhance female enrolment rate in rural localities.

Measuring Gender Equality in Education: Lessons from Trends in 43 Countries

Measuring Gender Equality in Education: Lessons from Trends in 43 Countries

The Effect of Peer Gender on Major Choice

This paper investigates how the peer gender composition in university affects students’ major choices and labor market outcomes. Women who are randomly assigned to more female peers become less likely to choose male-dominated majors, and they end up in jobs in which they work fewer hours and earn less. Men become more likely to choose male-dominated majors after having had more female peers, although their labor market outcomes are not affected. Our results suggest that the increasing female university enrollment over recent decades has paradoxically contributed to the occupational segregation among university graduates that persists in today’s labor market.

GENDER DISPARITY TOWARDS STUDENTS ENROLLMENT IN TECHNICAL EDUCATION IN RIVERS STATE: CAUSES, EFFECTS AND STRATEGIES

This study examined the gender disparity towards students’ enrollment in technical education in Rivers State. A sample of 403 students (362 Male and 41 Female) was selected through simple random sampling technique from Rivers State University (RIVSU) and Ignatius Ajuru University of Education (IAUOE), Port Harcourt from the Department of Technical Education. Three research questions were posed to guide the study and two Null hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significant. Structured questionnaire was used to collect data. A reliability coefficient of 0.83 was established through Cronbach Alpha using test-retest method. Data were analyzed using mean and standard deviation for research questions and hypotheses were tested using the independent sample t-test. The study revealed amongst others that poverty, preference of male child, cultural and religious beliefs were causes of female folks low enrollment into technical education programmes in Rivers State. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended amongst others that; allowances, scholarships, employment opportunities should be given to female students in order to enhance their enrolments into technical education programmmes in Rivers State.

Breast cancer screening utilization among women from Muslim majority countries in Ontario, Canada

Breast cancer screening disparities continue to prevail with immigrant women being at the forefront of the under screened population. There is a paucity of knowledge about the role of religious affiliation or cultural orientation on immigrant women's cancer screening uptake. This study examined differences in uptake of breast cancer screening among women from Muslim and non- Muslim majority countries in Ontario, Canada. A cohort of 1,851,834 screening-eligible women living in Ontario during April 1, 2013 to March 31, 2015 was created using linked health and social administrative databases. The study found that being born in a Muslim majority country was associated with lower breast cancer screening uptake after adjusting for region of origin, neighbourhood income, and primary care-related factors. However, screening uptake in Muslim majority countries varied by world region with the greatest differences found in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Screening uptake was lower for women who had no primary care provider, were in a traditional fee-for service model of primary care, had a male physician, had an internationally trained physician, resided in a low income neighbourhood, and entered Canada under the family class of immigration. Religion may play a role in screening uptake, however, the variation in rates by regions of origin, immigration class, and access to primary care providers alludes to confluence of socio-demographic, cultural beliefs and practices, immigration trajectories and system level factors. Facilitating access for immigrant women to regular primary care providers, particularly female providers and enrollment in primary care models could enhance screening uptake.

Women’s empowerment and its effect on community development in Oman: predictive model and indicators for best practices

ABSTRACTThis study investigates the level of women’s empowerment in Omani society from the point of view of female university students from three public universities with respect to educational opportunity, equality in employment and their social status in the community. The study proposes a model for how to empower women based on the perceptions of university females and the factors that must be considered for improving the status of women in Oman. The model also provides indicators for social and community practices using confirmatory factor analysis and Path Analysis to determine pertinent factors and their effects on women’s development. The results showed a strong direct effect of women’s empowerment in Oman on community development. Despite the latest developments in Oman, as long as cultural rigidity remains, tradition upholds a conservative viewpoint of women, and families adhere to their uncompromised principles, women will remain subordinated by these factors according to the viewpoint of participants. This study concludes with recommendations for further research, including enrolment of females in all areas of specialisation creating more job opportunities for women, encouraging women’s leadership, and additional education of women’s rights and needs.

Women’s participation in technical and vocational education and training in the Gulf States

While Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have launched a number of economic and education reforms to align their education and training systems with macroeconomic policies to develop diversified, knowledge-based economies, female technical and vocational education and training (TVET) faces an identity crisis. The Gulf States are struggling with increasing the enrollment and employment of women in TVET fields. While some GCC countries, such as Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, have viewed TVET as a key element of educational policy for many years, other GCC nations have only relatively recently focused their attention on improving TVET systems. In light of empirical gaps surrounding female enrollment and employment, this paper examines trends across the Gulf States to understand what factors affect women’s educational and labor market decisions. In line with the framework for action of GCC countries towards attaining Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) No. 4 on quality of education and based on common TVET education and employment reform challenges faced by GCC countries, this paper suggests a number of possible reforms to support GCC countries in increasing female TVET enrollment and employment in technical fields.

Relationship between female secondary education and economic growth of Pakistan

The main focusing of this study is to examine empirically the connection between female secondary school enrollment and economic growth of Pakistan taking the period of 1975-2014. The variables of the series passed the test of stationary by the first difference as evaluated by the ADF and PP test. Therefore, by employing the Johansen test of cointegration, the result shows that female secondary school enrollment and labor employment have insignificantly long run positive influence on economic growth, however, capital formation has significantly positive impact on economic growth of Pakistan. The Granger causality test based on VECM shows that female secondary school enrollment and GDP have long run two-way causality, however, the short run bidirectional causality does not exist but unidirectional causality, which is running from GDP to female secondary school enrollment.Â

The Gender Shift in Enrollment Patterns in Higher Education: A Case Study of a School Administration Program

Recent trends in higher education suggest that there are more women than men enrolled and that more degrees are being conferred to women across all levels at the associate, bachelor's, master's, and the doctorate levels (Hussar &Bailey, 2011; Wang & Parker, 2011). I offer theoretical perspectives about the rapid growing female enrollment in higher education, arguing that it is a major force in shifting college student demographics. The conclusions are based on an investigation of student enrollment patterns in a school administration program at a large comprehensive university in southeastern United States from 2000 through 2011. The results revealed that in this program, females outnumbered males by 2:1. Chi-square tests revealed statistically significant gender differences in enrollment patterns across age, semester, academic year, type of program, and type of campus. A further test using logistic regression analysis confirmed these findings. These results mirrored national trends where females now outnumbered males in higher education.

Do separate female toilets in primary and upper primary schools improve female enrollment? A case study from India

The Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC), initiated by the Indian Government, and UNESCO's School Sanitation and Hygiene Education (SSHE) Program started providing gender-specific toilets in government schools in the late nineties. This paper examines the connection between separate female toilets and the gender parity indices of enrollment and participation in the primary (grades I–V) and upper primary (grades VI–VIII) levels of education for 28 states and four union territories of India between 2007 and 2015. Additionally, this paper investigates whether separate female toilets improve the gender parity index of education for scheduled-caste students. The results show that separate female toilets in schools are positively associated with the gender parity indices of enrollment and participation at the upper primary level only for all castes combined. This paper finds no evidence to suggest that separate female toilets can improve the gender parity indices of enrollment and participation for scheduled-caste students at the upper primary level. Additionally, separate female toilets in schools are negatively associated with the gender parity index of enrollment for scheduled-caste students at the primary level, which indicates tremendous caste-related discrimination in Indian society.

Why is the Labour Force Participation of Women Declining in India?

Summary This paper explores the recent fall in female labour force participation and its socio-economic determinants in India. The major contribution of this paper is: to explore both micro- and macro-level factors which determine female labour force participation rate (LFPR); to examine the “U shape” female LFPR, by examining the likely income and substitution effects of the real wage increase, to identify the sub-sectors within manufacturing and service sectors that could create jobs for new female job aspirants and those older women displaced from agriculture in recent years; and thus to understand the conditions under which female LFPR could be raised. Using both macro-level and household survey (NSS) data, we find that the recent fillip in the process of structural transformation has pushed a large number of females out of agriculture. The growing mechanization in agriculture and rising capital intensity in manufacturing sectors together have limited the opportunity for females because of their low education and skill and due to other cultural constraints. We also found that the rise in real wages in rural areas and the consequent improvement in the standard of living has produced a strong negative income effect which outweighs the positive substitution effect and as a result female LFPR has declined substantially. However, with the massive increase in female enrollment in secondary and higher levels of education, it could be expected that the substitution effect of the increase in real wage would become stronger if appropriate measures are taken by the government, which are suggested.

Academic Reality "Show": Presented by Women Faculty of Color

Although the resolution of World War II brought dramatic growth to higher education, it was not until the 1950s and 1960s with social movements of equal and civil rights that women faculty of color had foray into faculty positions. Unfortunately, data on sex and minority status were limited in large studies during these decades, and any numbers of minority women faculty were estimated proportions of total faculty (see, e.g., Menges & Exum, 1983). In his analysis, Graham (1978) noted that women faculty positions actually declined from 1930 to 1970. Higher education after 1970 continued to expand due to the Civil Rights Movement, and this Movement propelled women and women of color to enter the academy.In academe today, women faculty of color know their own reality""they live in a world where an academic reality "show" would point out the truth, that is, all progress made in higher education does not represent them or their story. To begin, numerous quantitative studies do show that women have made significant progress in education over the decades. For example, The Condition of Education 2008 noted females account for nearly two-thirds of undergraduate and graduate (i.e., Master's level) degrees through 2007 (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], n.d.). For graduate and professional degrees, women have almost equalized the total number of degrees awarded to men (U.S. Department of Education, as cited in The Nation, 2007; see, also, NCES, "Participation," n.d.). Even though increases in male and female graduate students are expected through 2018, female enrollment is expected to increase at a rate faster than male enrollment (NCES, "Participation," n.d.). Along a similar line, women of color (i.e., American Indian, Asian, Black non-Hispanic, and Hispanic) earned more doctorate degrees than male ethnic minorities in 2004-05 (U.S. Department of Education, as cited in The Nation, 2007).Women faculty of color hold only 3% of full professorships, representing an important difference from their classification of 10% as assistant professors (Snyder, in Association of American Colleges and Universities, 2009). This supports research that has found that women, and especially women of color, face significant barriers as they move toward tenure. Then, too, there has been only a sluggish increase in hiring racially and ethnically diverse faculty members, and this increase includes hiring these individuals into certain types of higher education institutions -- two-year colleges and community colleges (American Association of University Professors, 2009; Gappa, Austin, & Trice, 2007).As Jackson (2004) emphasized in her article, there are numerous other factors behind the numbers that tell the story of progress of women in academe. Personal experiences in the academic workplace are not found in percentages or other representative numbers. To understand the academic reality "show" for women faculty of color, we need to listen to their stories. These stories articulate messages that are often suppressed or ignored in academe. Perhaps the time has come to rethink again current practices in the academy""practices that confine, restrain, and dehumanize lives.