AC 2012-3533: WOMEN ENGINEERS IN THE MIDDLE EAST FROM ENROLLMENT TO CAREER: A CASE STUDY
Dr. Hoda Baytiyeh, American University of Beirut
Hoda Baytiyeh is a Computer Engineer. She has earned a Ph.D. in instructional technology from the
University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She is currently an Assistant Professor in the Education Department
at the American University of Beirut. Her research interests include engineering education, ubiquitous
computing using open source software, and online learning communities.
c
American
Society for Engineering Education, 2012
Women Engineers in the Middle East from Enrollment
to Career: A Case Study
Abstract
This study investigates the status of women engineers in Lebanon as a case study in the
Middle East region. Through this study, the author investigated the following questions:
What are the motives behind female‟s decisions to choose engineering major? What are
the difficulties that female engineers have encountered in their transition from university
to workplace? And what are the perceptions of female regarding the essential skills for a
successful engineering career? An online survey with Likert-scaled items was completed
by 327 female engineers graduated from different universities in Lebanon and working in
different locations around the world. The professional growth including job satisfaction
that improves the level of women‟s creativity in a challenging environment was the
leading motivator for choosing engineering. Three challenges facing female engineering
graduates were revealed: communication, responsibility, and self-confidence. Participants
reported that they possessed adequate theoretical knowledge and technical skills before
graduation. However, weaknesses in creativity and innovation were found when
practicing the engineering career.
Introduction
Although the involvement of women in the engineering field is growing, women are
observed as minority in this field. The attrition of women in undergraduate engineering
programs is significantly higher than white males as revealed by the National Science
Board1. Undergoing studies focus on the importance of increasing the diversity in
science, engineering, and technology-related disciplines to attract women for a
sustainable education2. According to the NCES3, females earned in 2008-09 the smallest
percentages (16%) of bachelor's degrees relative to males in the fields of engineering and
engineering technologies. In Canada and in 2010, 17.7 percent of students enrolled in
Canadian undergraduate engineering programs were women, up slightly from 20094.
Outside North America, in Australia, women engineers reached a low rate of 11% in
2002. In France, the proportion of women engineers reached its maximum in 2003 at
27% 5.
By looking at the other side of the globe, in the Middle East region, a scarcity of
information exist regarding the role of women engineers in the Arab world. The lack of
information about the integration of women into the workforce suggests the need for
more studies investigating the status of female engineers in the Arab societies. While
enrolment statistics of women in engineering in some Arab countries are impressive6 such
as in Bahrain (32%) and in Kuwait (49%), information about the career paths which
women engineers follow from enrolment till practicing the engineering career is not well
understood.
For the purpose of this research, Lebanon was considered as a case study. Lebanon has
one of the best educational systems in the Middle East where higher education
institutions constitute a prosperous source of fresh engineers for the Gulf region and it is
regarded as an engineering educational center in the Middle East7, 8. The enrollment of
female in the engineering program in Lebanon9 between 2005 and 2010 fluctuated
between 15.2% and 18.2% with a mean of 16.5 as shown in Table 1.
Female
Male
Total
%Female
2009-2010
2087
9356
11443
18.2
2008-2009
1753
8223
9976
17.5
2007-2008
1426
7751
9177
15.5
2006-2007
1230
6873
8103
15.2
2005-2006
1259
6612
7871
16.0
Table1: Enrolment of Female/Male in the engineering program in Lebanon
This study aims to understand Lebanese women‟s perceptions from their enrolment in the
engineering college to practicing the engineering career. Through this study, the
following questions are investigated:
 What are the motives behind female‟s decisions to choose engineering major?
 What are the difficulties that female engineers encounter during their transition from
university to workplace?
 And what are the perceptions of female regarding the essential skills for a successful
engineering career?
Method and Data Collection
Available email addresses of women practicing engineers were collected from engineers‟
syndicates. An online Likert-scaled survey was sent to 1246 women engineers who had
been practicing for no more than ten years. Of the 1246 emails sent, 67 were returned
with delivery errors. Of the remaining engineers, 327 completed the survey representing a
28% response rate. The survey included four sections.
1. The first section gathered general information from participants related to their major,
their years of work, their work location, and their position title.
2. The second section measured different types of motives for enrolling engineering
college. In this study, the examined motives to enroll in engineering major focused on
motivational theories: self-confidence in abilities10 showing creativity in a
challenging environment11, meeting new people as a need for feeling connected12,
earning potentials and employment security13. Women engineers were asked to rate
16 items related to these motivational theories on a scale of 5 (1=not important at all,
5= extremely important).
3. The third section of the survey investigated the main challenges facing female
engineer graduates during their transition from college to career, based on findings
and recommendations of previous studies related to the transition from university to
working life14, 15. Participants were asked to rate nine challenges they faced at the
beginning of their career, including working under pressure, dealing with superiors,
and being afraid of failure using a 5-point scale (1 = not challenging at all, 5 =
extremely challenging).
4. The last section identified the learning deficiencies that hinder the effectiveness of
practicing women engineers by assessing their proficiencies before graduation and
after starting their profession in terms of technical, interpersonal, and personal
skills16. Participants were asked to rate the 27 indicators on a scale of 5 in terms of
how well they were trained in these skills before graduation (1=poor, 5=excellent)
and how important are those skills for their professional success (1=not needed, 5=
extremely needed).
Results and Discussion
Descriptive statistics were calculated to obtain the measures of central tendency and the
measures of variability for each of the items. Participants were distributed among the
following engineering specializations: Civil (37%), Mechanical (11%), Electrical (33%),
Computer (19%). The participants were primarily young women engineers who had been
practicing for less than five years (57%) as shown in Table 2. The majority 62% of the
participants were working in Lebanon and the remaining (38%) worked abroad: 14%
worked in the Gulf region, 24% worked in Europe and North America.
Major
Years Work
Location
Position title
Frequency
121
36
108
62
98
88
141
203
46
Civil
Mechanical
Electrical
Computer
Less than 2 years
2-5years
Over 5 years
Lebanon
Gulf region
Europe & North
78
America
Sales and production
46
Planning
39
Consulting
36
Design
95
Site
26
Management
69
Other
16
Table2: Participants‟ demographics
Percent
37
11
33
19
30
27
43
62
14
24
14
12
21
29
8
11
5
One interesting finding was that twenty percent of the participants revealed that they
would not study engineering if they had the chance again. Such result reveals that some
of the women engineers were disappointed in their profession or had not received the
adequate orientation regarding the career before enrolling in engineering programs.
Previous research highlighted the existing apparent contradiction that women have high
grades but low values for engineering17. Although women doubt their choice, they persist
in pursuing their degree.
Women engineers were asked to rate 16 items related to the motivational theories
explained above. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was applied with principal
components extraction, eigenvalues greater than 1.00, and absolute value more than .40.
The EFA with the principal components extraction yielded four factors accounting for
61.9% of the total variance. By evaluation of the items loaded under each factor,
descriptive names were generated as shown in Table 3. Factor 1 with a variance (σ2
=29.8%) was labeled Financial Growth, factor 2 (σ2 =13.0%) labeled Social Growth,
factor 3 (σ2 =10.8%) labeled Personal Growth, and factor 4 (σ2 =8.1%) labeled
Professional Growth.
Four variables were computed based on the mean of the items falling under each factor.
A one-way repeated measures ANOVA was conducted to detect the main effects between
the located variables. The results revealed significant differences among the four factor
scores, (F(3, 978) = 62.59, p < .0001). The Professional Growth factor was shown as the
most powerful motivator for enrolling in engineering major (μ=4.1 on a scale of 5)
followed by the Financial Growth factor (μ=3.8), the Social Growth factor (μ=3.6), and
the Personal Growth factor (μ=3.3).
Items
Availability of employment
Promotion prospects/opportunities
Earnings potential
Prestige of the Profession
Employment security
Potential to travel
Opportunity to work for a large
corporation
Opportunity to work overseas
Possibility to be director of a
company
Self-employment opportunity
Becoming a partner in a partnership
Potential for professional growth
Challenging and exciting profession
Career flexibility and options
Opportunity to be creative
Job Satisfaction
Financial
Growth
.844
.679
.667
.642
.331
Component
Social
Personal
Growth
Growth
Professional
Growth
.825
.689
.524
.682
.653
.612
Table 3: Rotated factor matrix of the motives
.466
.846
.845
.692
.628
Such results are consistent with previous studies 7, 18 showing that job satisfaction along
with creativity are among the main factors impacting students in choosing their major.
The following important factors fall under the Financial Growth desires. The need for
financial prospects and opportunities was shown as an important contributor to students‟
decision for major enrollment and complies with previous studies 19, 20.
In the second section of the survey, women engineers were asked to rate nine challenges
they faced at the beginning of their career using a 5-point scale (1 = not challenging at all,
5 = extremely challenging). These items revealed a Cronbach‟s alpha reliability
coefficient of 0.81. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was applied with principal
components extraction, eigenvalues greater than 1.00, and absolute values of more than
0.40. The CFA with the principal components extraction yielded three factors accounting
for 56.8% of the total variance. By evaluating the items loaded under each factor,
descriptive names were generated as shown in Table 4. Factor 1, with a variance (σ2 =
25.8%) was labeled Responsibility Challenge; factor 2 (σ2 =18.2%) was labeled
Communication Challenge; and factor 3 (σ2 =12.6%) labeled Self-Confidence Challenge.
Items
Taking responsibility
Responsible for results
Working under pressure
Working by yourself
Working with people from
different background
Dealing with your superiors
Afraid of failure
Not knowing enough
Learning on your own
Responsibility
Challenge
.814
.753
.526
.598
Communication
Challenge
Self-Confidence
Challenge
.610
.780
.742
.737
.545
Table 4: Rotated factor matrix of the challenges
Three variables were computed based on the mean of the items included in each factor. A
one-way repeated measures ANOVA was conducted to detect the main effects between
the identified variables for the same group of subjects. The results revealed no significant
differences among the three factor scores, (F(2, 66) = 24.15, p > .05).The Responsibility
Challenge factor had the highest mean score, with (μ = 4.20). The Communication
Challenge factor, with a mean score of (μ = 4.05) was in second place, followed by the
Self-Confidence Challenge factor with a mean score of (μ = 3.90).
These findings confirm previous research21 showing that self-confidence and good
communication skills are among the most important qualities for women engineers‟
professional.
In the last section of the survey, participants were asked to rate the 27 indicators (see
Table 5) reflecting technical, interpersonal, and personal skills on a scale of 5 in terms of
Personal skill Indicators
Interpersonal skill Indicators
Technical skill Indicators
how well they were trained in these skills before graduation (1=poor, 5=excellent) and
how important are those skills for their professional success (1=not needed, 5= extremely
needed.
Theoretical knowledge
Transforming knowledge to product
Learn a new subject on your own
Conduct experiment on your own
Using technological tools
Model and formulate problems
Possessing computational skills
Solving engineering problems
Creativity and innovation skills
Presentation skills in foreign language
Written communication in foreign language
Oral communication in foreign language
Make decision and accept responsibility
Confidence in dealing with others
Ability to effectively work in a team
Openness to new ideas
Motivate others for a given task
Be willing to take risk
Leadership and managerial skills
Knowledge of business and public policies
Ability to work under pressure
Preparedness for continued learning
Ability to manage your time
Planning skills
Flexibility in dealing with others
Ability to be goal oriented
Possessing professional ethics
Before starting
career
Mb
SD
3.71
.85
.96
2.65
3.80
.96
.94
2.72
3.07
1.0
3.39
.89
3.66
.89
3.39
.92
1.1
2.63
3.09
1.0
3.27
1.0
3.15
1.1
3.16
1.0
3.02
1.0
3.10
.97
3.48
.97
1.1
2.50
1.1
2.73
1.0
2.35
.97
2.05
4.29
.85
3.96
.89
3.46
1.0
2.95
1.1
3.37
.96
3.25
1.0
3.72
1.0
After practicing
engineering
Ma
SD
3.39
1.0
4.08
.98
4.31
.73
3.36
1.1
3.77
1.0
4.15
.90
4.03
.98
4.27
.90
3.76
.92
4.11
.76
4.40
.74
4.28
.77
4.42
.59
4.42
.66
4.47
.68
4.06
.79
3.73
.83
3.23
1.1
4.65
.86
3.50
.99
4.14
.67
3.82
.85
4.53
.65
4.29
.77
3.61
.81
4.09
.80
4.13
.97
Table 5: Skills indicators before graduation and after starting career
A Paired-Samples t-test was applied comparing each one of the three sets of skills as
rated by women engineers before graduation and after starting their career. The results
showed significance for the three sets, mainly as regards to the interpersonal skills with a
mean of (µ=3.05 before graduation) compared with (µ=4.12 after starting the career), and
the personal skills with a mean of (µ=3.26 before graduation) compared with (µ=4.08
after starting the career).
Although the results reflect sufficient emphasis on technical skills, it appears that these
female engineers were not prepared enough in college for „transforming knowledge to
product‟, „Conduct experiment on their own‟, and „Creativity and innovation skills‟.
Such results imply that female don‟t feel confident about their creative thinking. Previous
research showed that male students feel stronger than do female students about their
creative thinking and problem solving skills22.The lack of applications of theoretical
knowledge was shown as a barrier for females pursuing a technical education, and
therefore women students need more opportunities to apply their technical knowledge 21.
Although women engineers considered the technical skills as important after starting their
career, interpersonal and personal skills are indispensable for their professional growth.
The results show that interpersonal and personal skills were somehow overlooked in
college. The issues that posed the least problem for respondents were mostly
communication based: oral and written communication, working as a team member, and
communicating with colleagues. This supports previous research showing that women
engineers tend to have good human relations and verbal skills21.
The primary problems that respondents have experienced were related to managerial
skills. „Motivate others for a given task‟, „be willing to take risks‟,‟ leadership and
managerial and skills‟, and „knowledge of business and public policies‟ were the four
biggest problems for female engineers. This is indicative of the difficulties associated
with combining management and technical skills. Such findings may imply that MiddleEastern women in the engineering field do not see themselves moving into managerial
positions. Previous research22 highlighted that female engineering students possess a
lower confidence in their abilities to succeed in engineering as compared to male
engineering students. We can also note that among the respondents, none had specialized
in Engineering Management.
Conclusion
This study attempted to understand Lebanese females‟ perceptions from enrolment in
engineering colleges till practicing the engineering profession. Participants indicated a
strong need for a profession with earning potentials and promotion opportunities. The
transition from university to the engineering career was shown as complex and critically
important for graduating women engineers. Issues included taking on new
responsibilities, performing under pressure, and dealing with superiors. Moreover, the
results showed that female engineers possess sufficient theoretical and technical skills,
but are weaker in creativity and innovation. Nonetheless, the interpersonal and personal
skills mainly in leadership and managerial skills were the most overlooked aptitudes in
college while being extremely needed in work settings. These findings suggest the
implementation of the needed skills in order to bridge the gap between schooling and
practice.
This paper enlightens schools, professors, and engineering firms about the present status
and future perspectives of women engineers. Future studies are needed to offer additional
support for these findings.
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