Increasing the diversity of engineering education - a gender analysis in a PBL context

Abstract

This paper discusses how to increase the diversity of engineering education by making it more relevant and gainful for all students, as well as more attractive to women. Questions were raised whether, and in which ways the problem-based and project-based learning (PBL) method is apt for increasing gender diversity from both the quality and the quantity point of view. Empirical resources of this article are based on the results from two PhD studies on gender and PBL in engineering education carried out in a Danish context. The results suggest that the learning environment along with the establishment of new engineering programmes with more contextualised content would result in increased recruitment of women along with a substantial level of appreciation of learning. However, recruitment in terms of increasing numbers is not enough for the improvement of diversity. A solution for producing both more and better engineers therefore calls for a change in engineering education. This can be achieved by not only trying to address the requirements of accreditation boards in terms of diverse new engineering competencies, but also including contextual issues in the contents of engineering programs together with an improvement to the learning environment. © 2009 SEFI.