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Women in Engineering in the UK

Approaches to Inclusion and Engineering Curriculum Development

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GIEE 2011: Gender and Interdisciplinary Education for Engineers

Abstract

Despite sustained efforts to promote engineering careers to young women it remains the most male dominated academic discipline. This paper will provide an overview of UK data and research on women studying engineering in higher education, within the context of Europe. Reporting on preliminary findings of a EUfunded project we will discuss how gender inclusion is being addressed in the UK alongside engineering curriculum development and innovation, and how research on engineering in education is framed in economic or utilitarian, rather than genderequality, terms. We suggest that the current climate of curriculum innovation is an ideal time to emphasise the importance of gender inclusivity in what is traditionally a male subject area in order to promote a culture of equality and inclusion in engineering at higher education institutions.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Loughborough University, UK

    Sarah Barnard

  2. Loughborough University, UK

    Barbara Bagilhole

  3. Loughborough University, UK

    Andrew Dainty

  4. Loughborough University, UK

    Tarek Hassan

Authors
  1. Sarah Barnard
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  2. Barbara Bagilhole
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  3. Andrew Dainty
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  4. Tarek Hassan
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Association ECEPIE, Paris, France

    André Béraud

  2. Université Paris-Est-Créteil and Institute d’Histoire et de Philosophie des Sciences et des Techniques, Paris, France

    Anne-Sophie Godfroy

  3. Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, Paris, France

    Jean Michel

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© 2012 Sense Publishers

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Barnard, S., Bagilhole, B., Dainty, A., Hassan, T. (2012). Women in Engineering in the UK. In: Béraud, A., Godfroy, AS., Michel, J. (eds) GIEE 2011: Gender and Interdisciplinary Education for Engineers. SensePublishers, Rotterdam. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6091-982-4_6

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