Examining students’ perspectives on gender bias in their work-integrated learning placements

ABSTRACT

Work-integrated learning (WIL) affords students opportunities to apply skills and knowledge to practical work placements. Students potentially learn professional behaviours appropriate to their chosen industry sector. However, students may also face challenges they may not be prepared to navigate. One of these is gender bias due to assumptions about women and work, particularly within STEM sectors. This article presents findings from a pilot study that explores WIL students’ perspectives on gender bias related to experiences at their internship placements or other jobs. The findings suggest that the potential lack of gender neutrality within organizations such as WIL placements, is nuanced through an underlying bias around thinking about gender, women and work, and demonstrated through institutional structures such as branded recruitment campaigns or the individual micro aggressions of co-workers and supervisors. Further research needs to focus on the impact of gender bias on students’ sense of value within different organizations, and the strategies they employ to navigate bias. In the short-term, all students need tools to help them understand how gender is constructed within organizational processes and how to develop strategies to help them confront gender bias within the organizations in which they work.

KEYWORDS:

• Work-integrated learning
• gender bias
• gendered organizations
• professionalism
• work placements

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 Choose Science (Canada) https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/013.nsf/eng/home; She can STEM (US) https://shecanstem.com/; WISE (UK) https://www.wisecampaign.org.uk/wise-network/women-in-stem-networks/