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“Girl Power”: Gendered Academic and Workplace Experiences of College Women in Engineering

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  • Kathleen N. Smith

    (Department of Educational Leadership, Policy, and Human Development, College of Education, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA)

  • Joy Gaston Gayles

    (Department of Educational Leadership, Policy, and Human Development, College of Education, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA)

Abstract

Women in engineering continue to experience bias in the field. This constructivist case study uses feminist theory to examine the gendered experiences of graduating senior women engineering students in academic and workplace environments. In each setting we identified three subthemes; in academia: “I don’t think my education is any different,” “Being underestimated constantly,” and “You don’t want to be seen as getting advantages”; in the workplace: “Oh, you’re a girl,” “There’s a lot of sexism,” and Benefits of “girl power.” Overall, findings indicate that women experience bias in both settings, often via implicit bias in academia and with instances of implicit bias, sexism, and sexual harassment occurring even more often in the workplace through internship experiences. The article concludes with suggestions for practice, future research, and strategies to create supportive academic and workplace experiences and environments for women engineers.

Suggested Citation

  • Kathleen N. Smith & Joy Gaston Gayles, 2018. "“Girl Power”: Gendered Academic and Workplace Experiences of College Women in Engineering," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 7(1), pages 1-23, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:7:y:2018:i:1:p:11-:d:126324
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jennifer Hunt, 2016. "Why do Women Leave Science and Engineering?," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 69(1), pages 199-226, January.
    2. Claudia Goldin, 2014. "A Pollution Theory of Discrimination: Male and Female Differences in Occupations and Earnings," NBER Chapters, in: Human Capital in History: The American Record, pages 313-348, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Alison T. Wynn & Shelley J. Correll, 2017. "Gendered Perceptions of Cultural and Skill Alignment in Technology Companies," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 6(2), pages 1-28, May.
    4. Yonghong Xu, 2015. "Focusing on Women in STEM: A Longitudinal Examination of Gender-Based Earning Gap of College Graduates," The Journal of Higher Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 86(4), pages 489-523, July.
    5. Sharon Sassler & Katherine Michelmore & Kristin Smith, 2017. "A Tale of Two Majors: Explaining the Gender Gap in STEM Employment among Computer Science and Engineering Degree Holders," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 6(3), pages 1-26, July.
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    Cited by:

    1. Samantha Nix & Lara Perez-Felkner, 2019. "Difficulty Orientations, Gender, and Race/Ethnicity: An Intersectional Analysis of Pathways to STEM Degrees," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-29, January.

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