Women and higher engineering education — Choosing one's degree program

In this study we investigate women's pathways to a selection of degree programs in the oldest and largest institution of higher engineering education in Finland. We concentrate on eight degree programs in two categories: four degree programs with a relatively high concentration (over 43 %) of female first-year students and four degree programs with a relatively low concentration (below 15 %) of female first-year students. Our study focuses on an analysis of 48 free-form narratives written by first-year female students. The narratives cover the sequence of events from their earliest reflections on engineering as a career choice to the present state as well as the students' thoughts and views of their future in engineering. The most dominant factor for choosing an engineering career was relatives or acquaintances in technical fields. The second-most dominant factor was the difficulties in the process of choosing one's degree program. In degree programs with a low concentration of female students, the next dominating factor was an inherent interest in mathematics and natural sciences. In study programs with a relatively high concentration of female students, many women expressed interest in socially oriented studies, multidisciplinary studies and “healing the world”.