SOCIALIZATION PROCESSES OF ENGINEERING STUDENTS: DIFFERENCES IN THE EXPERIENCES OF FEMALES AND MALES

Abstract

The primary purpose of this study was to explore the personal experiences of female and male engineering students in both Division I (17 females and 16 males) and Division II (11 females and 11 males) programs. Analyses of narratives of 55 undergraduate engineering students revealed that the sociocultural experiences of female and male students differ in substantial ways in that socialization processes into engineering are problematic for women, who often rely on one another to bolster their self-efficacy perceptions and resiliency. Another important finding is that Division II female students were provided much more support by both professors and male peers than were their Division I counterparts, who reported more incidents of negative interactions with male students, especially when working in collaborative groups.