Exploring career choice and retention among engineering undergraduate students and systems engineers: A gender perspective
Yehudit Judy Dori 1 2 * , Hagit Refaeli-Mishkin 1 3 , Niva Wengrowicz 4 , Shahaf Rocker Yoel 1 , Dov Dori 4
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1 Faculty of Education in Technology and Science, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Technion City, Haifa, ISRAEL2 Samuel Neaman Institute for National Policy, Technion City, Haifa, ISRAEL3 MOFET National Institute for Research and Development in Teacher Education, Tel Aviv, ISRAEL4 Faculty of Data and Decision Sciences, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Technion City, Haifa, ISRAEL* Corresponding Author

Abstract

The underrepresentation of women in engineering is a significant concern. This study applies the social cognitive theory and the social career cognitive theory (SCCT) to investigate gender differences in engineering career choices. We examined reasons given by 19 systems engineers and 330 undergraduate engineering students for choosing engineering and categorizing them according to SCCT themes. We compared the distribution of reasons across themes and categories by career stage and gender. For engineers, the category self-efficacy correlated significantly with challenges and opportunities and current job suitability categories, and women engineers cited challenges mainly with work-life balance and the gender glass ceiling. Undergraduate students cited personal reasons more frequently than environmental ones, with behavioral reasons being the least common. The extended SCCT model includes the categories challenges and opportunities and current job suitability within the behavioral theme, with the latter pertaining specifically to career retention. This research provides insights into gender-dependent engineering career choice and retention by expanding the set of SCCT categories.

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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed, Volume 20, Issue 11, November 2024, Article No: em2527

https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/15483

Publication date: 01 Nov 2024

Online publication date: 16 Oct 2024

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Article Downloads: 199

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