The Development of Co-Curricular Interventions to Strengthen Female Engineering Students’ Sense of Self-Efficacy and to Improve the Retention of Women in Traditionally Male-Dominated Disciplines and Careers

Abstract

Self-efficacy relates to positive outcomes for women studying and working in traditionally male-dominated fields such as engineering, science, and technology. Many women engineering students (WES) experience fear and insecurity about how they will be treated and perceived in this traditionally male-dominated field, either as a WES or as a working engineer. This study provides support for the development of co-curricular interventions to improve the self-efficacy of WES at a South African tertiary institution. The research design for this study is based on a phenomenological approach that uses a process of critical analysis of evaluation and feedback documents relating to the various co-curricular interventions and their perceived influence on selected WES's self-efficacy. Finally, as there has been no other South African research on WES and the sources of self-efficacy, this research is unique in the South African context. OPSOMMINGDaar is 'n verband tussen selfdoeltreffendheid en positiewe resultate vir vroue wat studeer en werk in tradisionele mansgedomineerde dissiplines, soos ingenieurswese. Daar is egter baie vroulike ingenieurswese studente wat vrese en onsekerhede ervaar oor hoe hulle behandel en waargeneem sal word in 'n tradisionele, mansgedomineerde dissipline, hetsy as student of as werkende ingenieur. Hierdie navorsingstudie bied ondersteuning vir die ontwikkeling van mede-kurrikulêre ingrypings om die selfdoeltreffendheid van vroue studente in ingenieurswese aan 'n Suid-Afrikaanse tersiêre instelling te verbeter. Die navorsing in hierdie studie is gebaseer op 'n fenomenologiese benadering, en gebruik 'n proses van kritiese ontleding van evaluering en terugvoer dokumente van verskillende mede-kurrikulêre ingrypings, en die invloed daarvan op geselekteerde vroue ingenieurstudente se selfdoeltreffendheid. Ten slotte, aangesien geen ander SuidAfrikaanse navorsing oor selfdoeltreffendheid en vroulike ingenieurswese studente gevind kon word nie, is hierdie studie uniek in die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks.

Gender Equity in STEM Education: The Case of an Egyptian Girls’ School

“…There seemed to be a strong relationship between the degree of bias and the level of resistance on the part of the girls; in the cases where gender bias was explicitly reiterated, there was markedly higher degrees of resistance to such stereotype threats [27,42]. However, to address gender inequity in STEM, more work at the social level and at school level is required [6,29,34,44].…”

“…Increasing self-efficacy can overcome the stigmatized stereotypes of women being perceived as not compatible for STEM fields [5,24]. Integrating STEM project-based learning into the curriculum and providing female role models can enhance STEM self-efficacy and professional commitment to engineering [33,34].…”

Investigating Association Between Participation in Co-curricular Activities and Student’s Academic Output at Secondary Level

“…Participation in extra-curricular activities is one such strategy, as it allows students to demonstrate competencies not otherwise visible in their resumes due to limited job experience. Literature has revealed that participation in co-curricular activities bene ts students' retention rates and educational outcomes (Leung et al, 2011;Lourens, 2014).…”

Closing the Gap: Using Supplemental Instruction as a Tool to Assist Minorities in Engineering

“…This could give students and added psychological benefit that boosts confidence. If confidence, and therefore self-efficacy are increased, there is a clear added benefit to these students which research supports (11,12) . Based on discussions the authors had with several minority students, it is also possible that the peer role of the supplemental instructor plays is meaningful.…”

“…The same confidence issues that ethnic minorities feel might explain this small decrease. The stigma that engineering is a male dominated career field can subconsciously affect female students by reducing their confidence and self-efficacy, and a correlation clearly exists between self-efficacy and success in STEM fields (11,12) .…”