Strategies to Stimulate Young Female in Engineering

Abstract

Even though women are working in engineering and scientific fields, the engineering discipline is still seen as a male-dominated sector globally. They have traditionally been underrepresented in the field of engineering. Organizations like the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and Association of Professional Women Engineers of Nigeria (APWEN) and others alike, host events and conferences to provide guidance, training and support for young females hoping to hone their skills and advance their careers in the engineering sector. However, the perception and participation of female students in science related courses which serve as a fundamental basis for engineering has been very low. This paper adopts the strategic-implementation principle of ‘catch them young’. The method involves career counseling, talk shows, seminars on engineering practice, award presentation to
outstanding female students and organizing extra moral classes. Results from this study revealed that even though the perception and participation of young female students in sciences are low, the adopted method stimulates them in terms of performance in engineering related subjects and thus yield to more female participation in the engineering field. Other benefits are; to provide a forum for promoting sorority amongst female engineers and to create a platform by which women engineers can collaborate with other women in other professions in Nigeria and elsewhere; to stimulate women in achieving professional excellence as engineers and leaders and to expand the image of the engineering profession as a positive force in improving the quality of life.