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Widening the Net: National Estimates of Gender Disparities in Engineering
Author(s) -
Cohen Clemencia Cosentino de,
Deterding Nicole
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of engineering education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.896
H-Index - 108
eISSN - 2168-9830
pISSN - 1069-4730
DOI - 10.1002/j.2168-9830.2009.tb01020.x
Subject(s) - attrition , outreach , engineering education , women in science , medical education , differential (mechanical device) , political science , science and engineering , representation (politics) , psychology , engineering , sociology , gender studies , medicine , engineering ethics , dentistry , law , aerospace engineering , politics
This paper explores the causes behind the severe under‐representation of women in engineering. Based on national data on undergraduate engineering programs, this study presents cross‐sectional estimates of male and female student retention. Contrary to widespread beliefs, the study found that overall and in most disciplines there is no differential attrition by gender. Instead, results suggest that gender disparities in engineering are largely driven by inadequate enrollment (not inadequate retention) of women. The paper concludes that outreach—within institutions of higher education, across institutions (into two‐year colleges, middle and high schools), and into K‐12 curricular reform—are needed to address what is, at its very core, a recruitment problem.