Abstract
Growing evidence has underscored the importance of female students’ relationships and interactions in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) programs as crucial factors influencing their thriving within these programs. However, the discourse has seen a dearth of literature, especially in low-middle-income countries where deep-rooted cultural norms and values may complicate female students’ interactions and relationships with their peers (male students and female colleagues). Drawing on a phenomenological approach, we engaged female students in Mechanical Engineering at a Ghanaian university to share their experiences studying in such a hardcore male-dominated space with a focus on how they interact and relate with their peers. Data from participants were analyzed thematically using NVivo. Female students who participated in the study revealed that the daily interactions with their peers reinforced gendered norms, illuminating male students’ superiority in the program. Female students further asserted that the support from their male counterparts influenced their apathetic attitudes towards their female colleagues because they felt they had nothing to offer them academically, financially, and socially in the program. We argue the need to alter the perception of female students and promote a sense of relationship among them through seminars and support from women in STEM occupations.
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Notes
Sophomore and senior year are used interchangeably to indicate female students in their second and fourth (final year).
A fresher is a student who just started studying at a university/college and is yet to be officially matriculated into the university.
Handouts are pamphlets sold by lecturers to students to enhance their understanding of a specific course. Course handouts may include book chapters and published papers on a particular topic which is given to the class representative to allow other students to print a hard copy version of it to read for assignments and test.
The struggle of who gets the original version of the course handout given to the class representative, the distance females have to walk to the person in charge of the printing and photocopier machine and the wait in queues is what the female participants refer to as the physical exercise that does not favor them.
Cumulative Weighted Average (CWA) is the weighted average of students’ grades at the end of the current semester or the completion of the program.
Although the word “aunty/aunt” refers to the sister of someone’s mother or father, it is also an informal way of exchanging pleasantries with a female. “Eii” is also a slang used to express bewilderment, shock, and surprise.
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Amponsah, E.B., Twum, E.A., Laweh, J.T. et al. Unpacking the gendered interactions and relationship among students in male-dominated programs: perspectives of female students in mechanical engineering in Ghana. High Educ 87, 131–147 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-023-00997-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-023-00997-y