Exploring career choice and retention among engineering undergraduate students and systems engineers: A gender perspective

The underrepresentation of women in engineering is a significant concern. This study applies the social cognitive theory and the social career cognitive theory (SCCT) to investigate gender differences in engineering career choices. We examined reasons given by 19 systems engineers and 330 undergradu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education Science and Technology Education, 2024-11, Vol.20 (11), p.em2527
Main Authors: Dori, Yehudit Judy, Refaeli-Mishkin, Hagit, Wengrowicz, Niva, Rocker Yoel, Shahaf, Dori, Dov
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Careers
College students
Engineering
Gender
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Summary:The underrepresentation of women in engineering is a significant concern. This study applies the social cognitive theory and the social career cognitive theory (SCCT) to investigate gender differences in engineering career choices. We examined reasons given by 19 systems engineers and 330 undergraduate engineering students for choosing engineering and categorizing them according to SCCT themes. We compared the distribution of reasons across themes and categories by career stage and gender. For engineers, the category self-efficacy correlated significantly with challenges and opportunities and current job suitability categories, and women engineers cited challenges mainly with work-life balance and the gender glass ceiling. Undergraduate students cited personal reasons more frequently than environmental ones, with behavioral reasons being the least common. The extended SCCT model includes the categories challenges and opportunities and current job suitability within the behavioral theme, with the latter pertaining specifically to career retention. This research provides insights into gender-dependent engineering career choice and retention by expanding the set of SCCT categories.
ISSN:1305-8215
1305-8223
DOI:10.29333/ejmste/15483