Perceptions of the climate for women in undergraduate engineering technology programs

The study examines characteristics and perceptions of women studying engineering technology. The literature has identified issues which are related to the low participation and high attrition rate of women in science, engineering, and mathematics. These issues are well defined for women studying the traditional disciplines but not for women studying engineering technology. Through an understanding of the characteristics of women persisting in engineering technology programs, it may be possible to determine if these issues are applicable to these students. The subjects of this study were women enrolled in both Associate degree and Baccalaureate degree undergraduate engineering technology programs in the Spring Quarter of 1995/96.;The methodology used in this study was to administer two survey instruments, designed specifically for this inquiry to a stratified random sample consisting of 17 two-year and 7 four-year institutions. The first instrument was given to the deans to gather demographic information on each school, while the second instrument was given to female engineering technology students. In the student survey, the first section collected demographic information and the second section solicited their perceptions of how important various issues were to them personally and how prevalent they perceived those issues were in the engineering technology program.;The study resulted in a demographic characterization of women studying in engineering technology curricula and their perceptions of gender related issues in the programs. They agreed that competition and challenge were beneficial to learning; they were receiving adequate faculty and peer support; and were being actively included in the environment. They did, however, feel that in some cases, they were not receiving the level of support and inclusion they wanted. These women also felt strongly that they were as capable as men in engineering technology but felt that others in the program did not share these perceptions with the same intensity.