Impact of an immersive engineering program on children's understanding of and interest in engineering: Addressing gender stereotypes

IF 3.9 2区 工程技术 Q1 EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH Journal of Engineering Education Pub Date : 2024-09-17 DOI:10.1002/jee.20617
Alexandra Schonning, Susan M. Perez
{"title":"Impact of an immersive engineering program on children's understanding of and interest in engineering: Addressing gender stereotypes","authors":"Alexandra Schonning,&nbsp;Susan M. Perez","doi":"10.1002/jee.20617","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div>\n \n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Background</h3>\n \n <p>The gender gap in engineering presents a critical barrier to achieving a diverse and innovative engineering workforce. This gap is influenced by gender stereotypes, socialization processes, masculine culture, and insufficient early experiences with engineering. These contribute to diminished STEM self-concept, interest, and participation among women.</p>\n </section>\n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Purpose/Hypothesis</h3>\n \n <p>This study assessed an engineering outreach program's impact on children's understanding of and interest in engineering and beliefs about who can be an engineer. It compared whether discussions of gender bias differentially influenced these outcomes for girls and boys.</p>\n </section>\n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Design/Method</h3>\n \n <p>The study was a short-term sequential quasi-experimental design with boys and girls in grades 4–5. Six classroom groups attended a half-day engineering field trip and were randomly assigned to two conditions: Gender Presentation or No Gender Presentation. Pre- and post-program surveys measured changes in understanding of and interest in engineering and beliefs about who can be an engineer.</p>\n </section>\n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Results</h3>\n \n <p>All children, regardless of gender or condition, had higher understanding of and interest in engineering after the program, but also demonstrated a bias in selecting men over women as engineers. Participants reported that both girls and boys like and are good at engineering and these ratings increased from the pre-program to the post-program survey.</p>\n </section>\n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Conclusion</h3>\n \n <p>This research affirms the effectiveness of immersive and inclusive programming in enhancing children's understanding of and interest in engineering. No substantial gender-specific differences emerged regarding the impact of discussions on gender biases. The program underscores the value of early inclusive educational interventions in fostering equitable interest in engineering among young students.</p>\n </section>\n </div>","PeriodicalId":50206,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Engineering Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.9000,"publicationDate":"2024-09-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Engineering Education","FirstCategoryId":"5","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jee.20617","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

The gender gap in engineering presents a critical barrier to achieving a diverse and innovative engineering workforce. This gap is influenced by gender stereotypes, socialization processes, masculine culture, and insufficient early experiences with engineering. These contribute to diminished STEM self-concept, interest, and participation among women.

Purpose/Hypothesis

This study assessed an engineering outreach program's impact on children's understanding of and interest in engineering and beliefs about who can be an engineer. It compared whether discussions of gender bias differentially influenced these outcomes for girls and boys.

Design/Method

The study was a short-term sequential quasi-experimental design with boys and girls in grades 4–5. Six classroom groups attended a half-day engineering field trip and were randomly assigned to two conditions: Gender Presentation or No Gender Presentation. Pre- and post-program surveys measured changes in understanding of and interest in engineering and beliefs about who can be an engineer.

Results

All children, regardless of gender or condition, had higher understanding of and interest in engineering after the program, but also demonstrated a bias in selecting men over women as engineers. Participants reported that both girls and boys like and are good at engineering and these ratings increased from the pre-program to the post-program survey.

Conclusion

This research affirms the effectiveness of immersive and inclusive programming in enhancing children's understanding of and interest in engineering. No substantial gender-specific differences emerged regarding the impact of discussions on gender biases. The program underscores the value of early inclusive educational interventions in fostering equitable interest in engineering among young students.

查看原文
分享 分享
微信好友 朋友圈 QQ好友 复制链接
本刊更多论文
沉浸式工程学课程对儿童了解工程学并对其产生兴趣的影响:消除性别定型观念
背景 工程学领域的性别差距是实现多样化和创新性工程学人才队伍的关键障碍。这种差距受到性别刻板印象、社会化进程、男性化文化以及早期工程学经验不足的影响。这些因素导致女性对 STEM 的自我概念、兴趣和参与度降低。 目的/假设 本研究评估了工程学推广项目对儿童了解工程学、对工程学感兴趣以及对谁能成为工程师的看法的影响。研究比较了有关性别偏见的讨论是否会对女孩和男孩的上述结果产生不同影响。 设计/方法 该研究采用短期顺序准实验设计,对象是 4-5 年级的男孩和女孩。六个班级小组参加了为期半天的工程实地考察,并被随机分配到两种情况下:性别展示或无性别展示。活动前和活动后的调查测量了对工程学的理解和兴趣的变化,以及对谁能成为工程师的看法。 结果 所有儿童,无论性别或条件如何,在项目结束后对工程学的理解和兴趣都有所提高,但在选择男性而非女性作为工程师方面也表现出了偏差。参与者表示,女孩和男孩都喜欢并擅长工程学,而且这些评价从计划前调查到计划后调查都有所提高。 结论 这项研究肯定了沉浸式全纳课程在提高儿童对工程学的了解和兴趣方面的有效性。在讨论对性别偏见的影响方面,没有出现明显的性别差异。该计划强调了早期全纳教育干预在培养青少年学生对工程学的平等兴趣方面的价值。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
求助全文
约1分钟内获得全文 去求助
来源期刊
Journal of Engineering Education
Journal of Engineering Education 工程技术-工程:综合
CiteScore
12.20
自引率
11.80%
发文量
47
审稿时长
>12 weeks
期刊介绍: The Journal of Engineering Education (JEE) serves to cultivate, disseminate, and archive scholarly research in engineering education.
期刊最新文献
Issue Information The Undergraduate Engineering Mental Health Help-Seeking Instrument (UE-MH-HSI): Development and validity evidence How can I help move my manuscript smoothly through the review process? Reasons and root causes: Conventional characterizations of doctoral engineering attrition obscure underlying structural issues Special issue on systematic reviews and meta-analyses in engineering education: Highlights and future research directions
×
引用
GB/T 7714-2015
复制
MLA
复制
APA
复制
导出至
BibTeX EndNote RefMan NoteFirst NoteExpress
×
×
提示
您的信息不完整,为了账户安全,请先补充。
现在去补充
×
提示
您因"违规操作"
具体请查看互助需知
我知道了
×
提示
现在去查看 取消
×
提示
确定
0
微信
客服QQ
Book学术公众号 扫码关注我们
反馈
×
意见反馈
请填写您的意见或建议
请填写您的手机或邮箱
已复制链接
已复制链接
快去分享给好友吧!
我知道了
×
扫码分享
扫码分享
Book学术官方微信
Book学术文献互助
Book学术文献互助群
群 号:481959085
Book学术
文献互助 智能选刊 最新文献 互助须知 联系我们:info@booksci.cn
Book学术提供免费学术资源搜索服务,方便国内外学者检索中英文文献。致力于提供最便捷和优质的服务体验。
Copyright © 2023 Book学术 All rights reserved.
ghs 京公网安备 11010802042870号 京ICP备2023020795号-1