Gender and Civil Engineering in Higher Education: The Case of Mauritius

Abstract

Engineering plays a crucial role in everyday life and is the backbone of growth and development of the world including Mauritius. To embrace development, higher education institutions have to ensure that students are equipped with appropriate knowledge and skills to meet the needs of the country. Unfortunately, data shows that there is an underlying gender disparity in civil engineering training in higher education. It is imperative to understand the causes of gender inequity in engineering in higher education. This paper summarises the findings obtained from in-depth critical individual conversations with three participants, which explored the under-representation of undergraduate female students in a civil engineering degree in a higher education institution in Mauritius. The aim was to find ways in which the recruitment of female students in higher education and advancement of women in the field of civil engineering can be achieved. The findings support the ‘non-visibility’ of civil engineering as a field to study by women and the need to fit in as an engineer by women. As a result of the research, recommendations were made to assist policy and decision makers to develop evidence-based policies to address gender inequity in engineering in higher education.

Gender regimes and gender relations in higher education: The case of a civil engineering course

“…The findings revealed that 'there is a gendered hierarchy within the micro community of the classroom in terms of the relationship among students themselves and between students and staff' (Baguant 2020). For example, women often find themselves excluded in class discussions when male students and male academic teaching staff are involved in the discussions.…”

“…The experiences of participants revealed that the male students were often successful in the theory parts of the engineering curriculum (Baguant 2020). Female students seem to:…”

“…(eds. Adams et al 2000:12;Baguant 2020) The teaching approaches and methods appeared to have comforted female students in their understanding that the compliance learned as students could be transferred from secondary schools to university and produce the same outcomes. How far these useful qualities are in the world of engineering is another matter.…”

“…The curriculum reproduced gender relations of power (Connell 2002), where the students had to adhere to what was offered to them as pedagogy, content, assessment and field-based work. The curriculum bears 'significant residues of inequities' that give rise to 'questions among women about whether they can or want to "fit" into this culture' (Baguant 2020;Seron et al 2016:3).…”