Women and engineering: A case study of a biological and environmental engineering program

This case study focused on the lack of sufficient female participation in the engineering disciplines and the reasons for the apparent gender balance that has occurred in a biological and environmental department at a major engineering university. Other universities, in their engineering programs still enroll only an average of 20% women. Scientific technologies are vital for global and economic sustainability, yet the number of emerging engineers does not maintain parity with the need. Engineering technologies are not attracting the female portion of the population. The country's deteriorating infrastructure, degraded environment, and the threats to the nation's security have provoked a national concern. Three research questions are addressed in this case study: Why has the biological and environmental engineering program at a major engineering university attracted a greater percentage of female participants than the other engineering disciplines? What are the attributes of a biological and environmental engineering program that are attractive to women? and How can these attributes be used to inform other areas of engineering in all universities in moving toward gender balance? A questionnaire, live interviews, and the examination of relevant university documents provided the sources of evidence toward the understanding of this issue.