A poisoned chalice? Why UK women engineering and technology students may receive more ‘help’ than their male peers

Abstract

The UK engineering and technology (E&T) sector is male-dominated, with women facing various cultural and structural barriers in entering and developing their careers within it. Existing research in this area has focused on women’s recruitment or retaining women in employment, but little has addressed women’s transition to industry through the higher education (HE) system. This paper therefore explores women’s experiences of HE in E&T, focusing particularly on the gendered help and support women were found to receive, as well as possible causes and consequences of this behaviour. The research adopts a qualitative design, using semi-structured interviews with women E&T students. The gendered help women received is shown to be something of a ‘poisoned chalice’; although there are sometimes short-term benefits, this is likely to hinder women from progressing in their careers at the same rate as their male peers.

Keywords:

• gender
• identity
• engineering
• higher education
• women

Acknowledgements

This research was supported with a grant from the Economic and Social Research Council (RES000230426). We are grateful to the universities and particularly the students who took part in the interviews that form the basis of the findings presented in this article.