Successful strategies for attracting more female students to engineering majors in emerging economies: The case of southern Mexico Academic Article in Scopus uri icon

abstract

  • © American Society for Engineering Education 2020.The attraction of new students to Engineering programs has always been a topic of interest for Universities all over the world. For the case of female students, in some countries the situation can be even more complicated as cultural issues might be involved. In this work, we present the results of more than ten year of experience in the attraction of female students to Engineering programs such as Mechatronics Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science into a private University. The strategies presented in this paper are focused on the Southern Region of Mexico. This region presents the lowest index of human development according to United Nations results. Different problems have been faced by the attraction team since the opening of our university campus in 2003, ranging from funding to the difficult cultural issues such as the case when an Engineering degree is not considered as a women's career choice in some regions of the country. The paper shows the trends in several Engineering programs with a positive increase in the number of girls pursuing an Engineering major. Some of the best strategies are included along with the kind of activities that have worked best for attracting more women into Engineering. Also, recommendations on how to help them overcome peer and family pressure are described. The conclusions and recommendations of this work can be used in other emerging economies that are working in increasing the number of women in STEM programs.

publication date

  • June 22, 2020