57 research outputs found
âThey're not girly girlsâ: an exploration of quantitative and qualitative data on engineering and gender in higher education
This article was published in the journal, European Journal of Engineering Education [© Taylor & Francis] and the definitive version is available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03043797.2012.661702Despite sustained efforts to promote engineering careers to young women, it remains the most male-dominated academic discipline in Europe. This paper will provide an overview of UK data and research on women in engineering higher education, within the context of Europe. Comparisons between data from European countries representing various regions of Europe will highlight key differences and similarities between these nations in terms of women in engineering. Also, drawing on qualitative research the paper will explore UK students' experiences of gender, with a particular focus on the decision to study engineering and their experiences in higher education. © 2012 Copyright SEFI
Does the engineering culture in UK higher education advance womenâs careers?
Current research suggests that increases in the number of women studying engineering and related courses have not been matched by a similar increase in women engineering professionals. This suggests that although women are attracted to engineering, their experiences in higher education (HE) discourage them from pursuing their chosen career path. The paper explores whether the masculine culture of the engineering sector permeates the culture and curriculum in engineering HE, and if it does, what impact this has on women engineering students. This is achieved through semi-structured, qualitative interviews with a range of female engineering students from both the pre and post 1992 university sectors. Findings indicate that while women are not deterred from pursuing their chosen engineering career, the culture and structure of the engineering education system has been designed for a male audience. This suggests that engineering HE does not benefit most female students to the same extent as male students. It is recommended
that HE engineering must review its structure, culture, practices and curriculum if it is to retain female engineering graduates and to attract more women into the sector. This paper fulfils an identified gap in research on women in engineering and will be of interest to university engineering departments and faculties and the Engineering Council, as well as to those in the fields of social policy, education and equal opportunities
Managing and monitoring equality and diversity in UK sport: An evaluation of the sporting equals Racial Equality Standard and its impact on organizational change
Despite greater attention to racial equality in sport in recent years, the progress of national sports organizations toward creating equality of outcomes has been limited in the United Kingdom. The collaboration of the national sports agencies, equity organizations and national sports organizations (including national governing bodies of sport) has focused on Equality Standards. The authors revisit an earlier impact study of the Racial Equality Standard in sport and supplement it with another round of interview material to assess changing strategies to manage diversity in British sport. In particular, it tracks the impact on organizational commitment to diversity through the period of the establishment of the Racial Equality Standard and its replacement by an Equality Standard that deals with other diversity issues alongside race and ethnicity. As a result, the authors question whether the new, generic Equality Standard is capable of addressing racial diversity and promoting equality of outcomes. © 2006 Sage Publications
Interdisciplinary content, contestations of knowledge and informational transparency in engineering curriculum
This article is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis Group in Teaching in Higher Education, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13562517.2013.836089With the introduction of key information sets (KIS) for all university programmes in the UK from 2012, the character, content and delivery of university degrees may be increasingly used by potential students to differentiate between degree programmes. Therefore, developments in curricula and the relationship to the profession are of growing importance. In this paper, we explore the role of programme content in prospective studentsâ decision-making and describe the prevalence of interdisciplinary content in civil engineering curricula. Following this, we detail student perceptions of interdisciplinary content. It is found that universities currently operate a varied approach to transparency regarding curriculum; students pay little attention to programme content before embarking on their chosen degree; and engineering students view interdisciplinary content in the curriculum with ambivalence, usually ascribing its necessity in the preparation for post-university employmen
Performing women: The gendered dimensions of the UK new research economy
This paper explores the development and maintenance of familiar gendered employment patterns and practices in UK universities, which are exemplars of new modes of knowledge production, commodification and marketisation. After discussing in detail the evidence of gender discrimination in UK higher education and the changes in the academic labour process consequent to the incorporation, at least at the policy level, of universities into the âknowledge economyâ, institution-specific data is used to highlight the gendered aspects of the research economy from the three intermeshing perspectives of research culture, research capital and the research production process. This nexus is constructed in such a way as to systematically militate against womenâs full and equal involvement in research. Lack of transparency, increased competition and lower levels of collegiate activity coupled with networking based on homosociability are contributing to a research production process where women are marginalized
Genders at Work: Gender as a Geography of Power in the Academy
This chapter discusses contemporary research investigating how gender operates as a geography of power in the contemporary academy, particularly in relation to notions of âcareerâ. Masseyâs understanding of space as âa simultaneity of stories-so-far and places as collections of those storiesâ (2005, p.11) shapes the research questions and a methodology of âspatial storytellingâ which foregrounds relationships between space and power in considering lived experiences of work and career. The chapter presents a selection of participantsâ âstories-so-farâ which illustrate the complexity and dimensionality of lived, gendered experiences in the workplace and provide a basis for reflection on the opportunities these afford to resist sexism in the academy
Mind the gap? Civil society policy engagement and the pursuit of gender justice: critical discourse analysis of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action in Africa 2003â2015
This article presents critical discourse analysis of state and civil society organisationsâ efforts to implement the gender mainstreaming goals set out in the United Nationsâ Beijing Declaration. It is argued that the latter represents a generational opportunity to apply a Feminist Political Economic Framework to development in Africa. However, the research findings show how current practice falls short of the sought-after participative democratic model of mainstreaming. Instead, analysis reveals significant differences in state and civil society organisationsâ policy framing, issues over conceptual clarity and a disjuncture in state and civil society prioritisation of key gendered issues such as poverty, economic inequality and conflict resolution. This matters because it indicates that the capacity of the civil sphere to act as a political arena from which NGOs may challenge the traditionally male-dominated power structures is being undermined by a âdisconnectâ between state and civil society as they pursue contrasting agendas
Mothers in the Academy: Positioned and positioning within discourses of the 'successful academic' and the 'good mother'
Views from Above the Glass Ceiling: Does the Academic Environment Influence Women Professorsâ Careers and Experiences?
Book review: Planning and Diversity in the City: Redistribution, Recognition and Encounter
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