Factors Affecting Women’s Choice of Learning Engineering and Technology Education in Ethiopia

Abstract

Recently, women in engineering and technology education have been given due importance in academic studies. In this background, the study has been carried out with two objectives. The first is to compare women's participation in engineering and technology vis-à-vis other STEM subjects. It has been done based on secondary data of enrollment, and the second one is to discuss the factors affecting their choice of pursuing engineering and technology. The average registration of women in engineering and technology is 24%, lower than any other study field. The second objective has been analyzed based on primary data collected from 384 women students learning engineering and technology and other science subjects (i.e., chemistry, biology, mathematics, statistics, physics). The result of Logit regression on factors affecting women's choice of learning engineering and technology reveals that expected salary is the most influencing factor. Other factors, high school education performance (results of grade 12 exam), the presence of an engineer and technologist in the family, access to role models, and the family's annual income, positively affect women's choice of learning engineering and technology education. All stakeholders, such as the government, teaching institutions, and associations dealing with women in engineering and technology education, must have appropriate measures for making role models more visible.INDEX TERMS women, choice of field stream, engineering and technology education, Ethiopia