GENDER DIFFERENCES IN ATTITUTES TOWARDS ENGINEERING STUDIES AND IN GRADUATES

Gender difference in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education is well reported and analysed, and models and recommendations have been put forward. Research has revealed that different engineering programs are more attractive to one gender than the other and understanding university students’ attitudes towards STEM is essential for changing this situation. Choice of studies can be difficult because so many factors are involved, e.g. peer pressure, stereotypes, access and availability and local cultural expectations. This paper seeks to ascertain if there is a gender difference in engineering students’ attitudes toward engineering, and if the development of gender balance has been changing during the last decade in the different engineering fields. Survey data was collected from students enrolled in a university engineering program at Reykjavik University, Iceland, and available data on the number of graduates between 2008 and 2021 were analysed. The results show that the genders may have divergent interest in different disciplines of engineering which is reflected in quite different gender ratios at graduation, but at the same time there is a systematic change during the last decade in some engineering disciplines. Furthermore, females are getting interested in engineering education significantly later than males, but the genders report similar reasons for choosing engineering education. This topic touches on CDIO Standard 1 (program philosophy), 7 and 8 (new methods of teaching and learning).