Navigating structural constraints: women’s agency in engineering studies and teaching in Bangladesh

Abstract

Evidence demonstrates that women in Bangladesh are underrepresented both in engineering education and relevant career domains. This study explores the comprehensive experiences of women in their pursuit of engineering, both as a subject of study and as a career in teaching in Bangladesh. Based on in-depth interviews with 15 female undergraduate students and ten female university teachers from various engineering disciplines, this qualitative research argues that the barriers constraining women’s participation in engineering studies are mostly structural, which hinder women’s engagement in engineering by enforcing gender norms and stereotypes. On contrary, individual agency enables women to succeed in these fields combating the structural restrictions. The study’s findings also highlight the role of the interplay between structure and agency, particularly demonstrating how structural barriers, like socio-cultural obstacles in the engineering industry, can hinder women’s unrestricted exercise of agency, leading to their preference for teaching careers over non-teaching engineering roles. However, the study suggests initiating measures at different levels, including individual, family, societal, and institutional, to promote women’s participation in engineering studies in Bangladesh.