Women in Engineering – Barriers to Participation in the South African Context

The number of female engineering-graduates entering the workplace is at an all-time high globally, increasing steadily with the international focus to increase women representatives in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields. However, the number of women in engineering-related leadership positions continues to remain persistently low. This is especially true in electrical and electronic engineering, and more so in the engineering education sector, where the representation of female engineers remains low in comparison with other engineering disciplines. The aim of this research is to capture and understand the reasons for this lack of female representation in the discipline, focusing on barriers to participation in a South African context, while identifying ways to promote and increase the gender balance in the electrical and electronic engineering education domain, in general.