General trends in engineering education support the participation of women

Abstract

This paper summarizes major trends identified in engineering education based upon an analysis of several influential reports published within the past 15 years as well as a synthesis of articles published within the past 5 years. Because of technological advances as well as the globalization of businesses, economies and cultures in the twenty-first century, the importance of engineering disciplines and education has reached a critical state and prompted several examinations within the past few years. Although numerous studies and research on changing or restructuring engineering education have been conducted over the last century, many findings have remained the same over time, such as (a) what to include in the curricula, (b) how long engineering education should be, (c) what level of specialization, (d) how to prepare students, and (e) how to meet the needs of society. The trends in engineering education that we found to be most prevalent in reviewed reports and articles are increased attention to (1) curricular flexibility, (2) continuous learning by students, and (3) diversity in engineering education. Additionally, key themes identified in our review of the literature on women in engineering focused on (1) historical male-domination of the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields, (2) the need for intervention programs for women and minorities to keep their interest in STEM fields and (3) the need for educational system changes to include both curriculum and faculty role-models and influence. In this paper we show how it appears that the trends in engineering education are in line with and supportive of the themes underlying the types of changes needed to draw more women into engineering. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2008.