Date of Award
January 2018
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Education, Health & Behavior Studies
First Advisor
Josh Cohen
Second Advisor
Margaret Healy
Abstract
The historical underrepresentation of women in engineering persists for women engineering majors in college and once they enter the workforce. While some engineering disciplines have seen an increase in women students, overall the numbers still have fallen well behind other STEM disciplines despite years of research. Most studies on this issue have been quantitative and have looked at factors associated with why women leave engineering. This qualitative study, in contrast, gave women engineering majors the opportunity to share their experiences in answer to the question of why women choose to stay in an engineering major. Phenomenological methods, including semi-structured interviews, yielded emergent themes, and new meanings generated from participantsâ responses provided a better understanding of their choices to persist in a traditionally male-dominated major. Results helped identify barriers and supportive factors to consider in educational program design to promote womenâs persistence in engineering.
Recommended Citation
Morrissette, Victoria, "Women Engineering Majors' Choice To Stay: A Phenomenological Exploration Of Persistence Experiences" (2018). Theses and Dissertations. 2292.
https://commons.und.edu/theses/2292