Cultures Within Cultures: Welcoming Or Unwelcoming For Women?

A cultural analysis of engineering education, using an interpretive case study methodology at a multidisciplinary engineering institution, exposed disciplinary subcultures or “cultures within cultures” some of which appeared more welcoming of women’s participation than others. Cultural differences were noted between the engineering disciplines not only at the level of social behaviors and relationships, but also at the level of tacitly known and understood ways of valuing knowledge, teaching, and learning. A local plateauing of overall female participation at approximately 20% masked persistent differences in female participation by discipline, reflecting international trends. This paper suggests that a study of these disciplinary subcultures may clarify the persistence of this differential participation , and lead to the formulation of new approaches to increasing women’s participation in engineering education.