Women in Engineering: Almost No Gap at University but a Long Way to Go for Sustaining Careers

Eunju Jung and Ja Young Eunice Kim
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Eunju Jung: Graduate School of Education, Sejong University, 209 Neungdong-ro, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul 05006, Korea
Ja Young Eunice Kim: Department of Architecture, Korea University, 145 Anam-ro, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 02841, Korea

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 20, 1-20

Abstract: Engineering is one of the career fields where women’s underrepresentation has been tenacious. In Korea, the government has made continuous efforts in the last decades to make a difference, yet the rate of women who pursue an engineering career pathway is still low. In this study, we analyzed 415 survey responses at a large private university in Korea to fulfill the aims of the current study: (1) to examine the gender difference on the 11 major- and career-related variables using t -test, (2) to test the adjusted social cognitive career theory (SCCT) model for the engineering undergraduate students’ intention to pursue an engineering career using path analysis. The independent t -test results revealed that the gender differences were found not in any major-related variable, but in three career-related variables, indicating the female students perceived their future career less vested than the male students. The path analysis results indicated that the adjusted SCCT model fitted to the data well and the relations among the variables were generally in the expected way with some exceptions. The highlighted implication is that removing systematic barriers and gender stereotype threats is as important as providing supports for gender equity in pursuing an engineering career.

Keywords: gender; social cognitive career theory; expected career success; intention to pursue engineering careers; structural change for inclusive engineering career (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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