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”.