Mending the Gaps: An Exercise in Identifying and Understanding Diverse and Multicultural Team Faultlines

The Faultlines Exercise, an experiential activity, introduces students to concepts of diversity attributes (surface and deep levels), social identity, and team faultlines. Through individual reflection and team discussion, students apply these concepts to their own diverse multicultural class teams with the goals of (a) preventing negative outcomes that may develop from faultlines and (b) improving team performance. Plenary class discussions reinforce key learning points that can be applied to teamwork throughout the course. Students in both face-to-face and online classes report that the exercise helps improve team performance and helps to identify and resolve problems. Instructions for facilitating classroom discussion and student handouts are provided, as are suggestions for adapting the exercise to other constructs

FACTORS AFFECTING THE CHOICE OF HIGH TECH ENGINEERING MAJORS FOR UNIVERSITY WOMEN AND MEN IN BANGLADESH

In contrast to western countries which are experiencing declines in female enrollment in high tech engineering (HTE),Bangladesh has experienced a continuous increase in female enrollment in engineering. In order to better understand thefactors driving the choice of HTE as a major, survey data was collected from 590 male and female students in HTE majors inBangladesh. Hypotheses related to gender differences in the influence of various factors on major choice were examinedusing t-tests. Results revealed that, while several factors had a similar impact for women and men, gender differences in selfefficacyand socio-economic status persist and may represent barriers to women’s participation

Gender and careers: A study of persistence in engineering education in Bangladesh

The goals of this study were to examine the utility of social cognitive career theory in a South Asian context, extend SCCT beyond its individualistic roots to include social and contextual variables, and explore the possible differential validity of SCCT predictors for men and women. The study involved an in-class survey of Bangladeshi unde