Sabine von Hünerbein Acoustics Research Centre Relevance of gender in engineering Academic view

CSE female UG students 2014/15

EU comparison 2007

CSE overseas students

WHY FEW FEMALE ENGINEERS? 1.Girls are effectively ruling themselves out of a degree in engineering by the age of 14 2.Enjoyment of a subject is as significant as attainment in terms of a pupil’s likelihood to pursue that subject further 3.Careers information, advice and guidance is still reinforcing gender stereotypes (Kiwana et al. 2011, EngineeringUK) 5

MY CAREER Female dominated family and educational background 6

MY CAREER HE:Physics degree Job in university computing centre PhD:Meteorology, Switzerland Industry: Business manager in internet gaming Postdoc: Salford Acoustics Research Centre Lecturer: Acoustic Engineering, 2005 Senior Lecturer: Mathematics,

STUDY ON GENDER EQUALITY IN UK ENGINEERING Faulkner (2009) investigates in field studies Styles of interaction Topics of conversation Humour Social networks 8

STUDY ON GENDER EQUALITY IN UK ENGINEERING She finds mostly Respectful styles of interaction Wide-ranging topics of conversation and humour Care taken to avoid, or challenge, potentially offensive jokes and talk Mixed-sex social networks 9

STUDY ON GENDER EQUALITY IN UK ENGINEERING Some gender exclusive dynamics within engineering workplace cultures: Fraternal markers of familiarity and bonding The generic ‘he’ Conversation dominated by men’s interests Offensive humour and sanctions against challenging this Heteronormative and sexualised culture Pressures to conform to particular masculinities Organisationally powerful networks of men. 10

Too few women entering academia Once in academia women tend to find a very supportive environment Women support networks can help with a sense of identity and career support Conclusions

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