TY - GEN
T1 - Attraction, education and retention of technical women in South Africa
AU - Nel, H.
AU - Meyer, J.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 IEEE.
PY - 2016/12/27
Y1 - 2016/12/27
N2 - Women engineers form a small but integral part of the South African and global engineering fraternity. The resultant gender disparity in all technical professions presents a significant challenge to women in the sector, as well as to governments, corporates and higher education institutions. If the future of engineering aims to be more gender equitable, the attraction, education and retention of technical women must be understood and addressed effectively. Research was conducted over a two-year period with nine technical women in South Africa to gain a deeper understanding of these factors. The respondents agree that a future exists for women engineers, but that current policies, education structures and financial systems must be restructured to make engineering a more attractive career for women. The paper presents the research findings and strategies for the future education and retention of technical women in the engineering and built environment sectors.
AB - Women engineers form a small but integral part of the South African and global engineering fraternity. The resultant gender disparity in all technical professions presents a significant challenge to women in the sector, as well as to governments, corporates and higher education institutions. If the future of engineering aims to be more gender equitable, the attraction, education and retention of technical women must be understood and addressed effectively. Research was conducted over a two-year period with nine technical women in South Africa to gain a deeper understanding of these factors. The respondents agree that a future exists for women engineers, but that current policies, education structures and financial systems must be restructured to make engineering a more attractive career for women. The paper presents the research findings and strategies for the future education and retention of technical women in the engineering and built environment sectors.
KW - education
KW - retention
KW - South Africa
KW - women in engineering
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85009841283&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1109/IEEM.2016.7797859
DO - 10.1109/IEEM.2016.7797859
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85009841283
T3 - IEEE International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management
SP - 174
EP - 178
BT - 2016 International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management, IEEM 2016
PB - IEEE Computer Society
T2 - 2016 International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management, IEEM 2016
Y2 - 4 December 2016 through 7 December 2016
ER -