ERIC ED432160: Bringing Women into Computer Engineering: Curriculum Reform Processes at Two Institutes of Technology. Linkoping Studies in Education and Psychology Dissertations, No. 60. PDF
Preview ERIC ED432160: Bringing Women into Computer Engineering: Curriculum Reform Processes at Two Institutes of Technology. Linkoping Studies in Education and Psychology Dissertations, No. 60.
DOCUMENT RESUME HE 032 132 ED 432 160 Salminen-Karlsson, Minna AUTHOR Bringing Women into Computer Engineering: Curriculum Reform TITLE Processes at Two Institutes of Technology. Linkoping Studies in Education and Psychology Dissertations, No. 60. Linkoping Univ. (Sweden). Dept. of Education and Psychology. INSTITUTION ISRN-LiV-IRP-STU-60-SE REPORT NO ISBN-91-7219-484-7 ISBN ISSN-1102-7517 ISSN 1999-00-00 PUB DATE NOTE 273p. -- Reports - Research (143) Books (010) PUB TYPE MF01/PC11 Plus Postage. EDRS PRICE College Faculty; *Computer Science Education; *Curriculum DESCRIPTORS Development; *Educational Attitudes; Educational Change; *Engineering Education; *Females; Feminism; Foreign Countries; Higher Education; Nondiscriminatory Education; Sex Differences; *Sex Fairness; Universities Chalmers University of Technology (Sweden); Linkoping IDENTIFIERS University (Sweden) ABSTRACT This study examined curricular reform processes at two Swedish institutes of technology through a gender perspective, relating them to two social theories the reproduction theory of Bourdieu and Passeron and the gender contract theory of Yvonne Hirdman. The aim of the reform process was to make educational programs in computer engineering more attractive to female students. Data were gathered by interviewing academic staff involved in the reform process at Linkoping Institute of Technology and Chalmers University of Technology and through observations of planning meetings. The results point out several obstacles to gender-related reforms, including stereotypical conceptions of women -.nd lack of knowledge on gender issues among the reformers, the particular position and responsibilities given to female reformers, the importance of maintaining the status of a single for program, the heritage of engineering education as a whole, and the need other reforms (e.g., pedagogical reforms) which are perceived of as relatively easy to accomplish, whereas gender reform is both more profound and more difficult. It was also found that even if the reformed programs managed to increase recruitment of female students, their curricula were not perceived by faculty to be especially female-friendly. Seven appendixes provide information on the study methodology. (Contains 165 references.) (MDM) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ******************************************************************************** puter nng 07-7 '6-kgc-o maineerdi g Curoirtho voco) I 1 noraimog iforgo (Ter ace xae?' , ,. - clierilgifila0({nl 6;Tte , PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY Linkoping niversity TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) ( BEST COPY AVAILABLE LinkVing Studies in Education am a r(Psycfiorrigy 56 50 LinkOping 'University, Department of Education and. Tsycliotogy U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement Linkpping 109 EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) /This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. 0 Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. * Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. AMIABLE BEST COPY Oringing Women into Computer Engineering Curriculum Reform ftocesses at Two Institutes of Technology Wlinna Safminen-Karrsson Linkoping Studies in Education and Tsychofogy No 60 LinOping 'University, Department of Education and esychoThgry Linkoping 1999 3 Department of Education and Psychology Linkoping University S-581 83 Link6ping, Sweden ISRN-LiU-IPP-STU--60--SE ISBN 91-7219-484-7 ISSN 1102-7517 Landskrona 1999 Printed in Sweden by Parajett AB, Acknowledgements During the last five and a half years I have had the advantage of becom- ing acquainted with two academic environments educational research and engineering education. My cicerones in these two environments have made the work with the Ph.D. thesis both challenging and enjoy- able. I have had the advantage of working with three different advisors. The ideas and the first drafts were scrutinised and commented on by my advisor at the time, professor Befit Ask ling, who set me safely and firmly on my academic career. As I was following the winding paths of the middle phase, the meetings with professor Lars-Owe Dahlgren, my sec- ond advisor, offered and required pauses for reflection without marking out the advisable path too rigidly (maybe he knew that I would have followed my own mind anyway). And finally, my third advisor Elisa- beth Sundin who came from another discipline with a solid knowledge on gender research, not only improved my thesis with her wise com- ments, but also influenced my thinking about the whole issue of being an academic woman. In addition I have got valuable input from the seminars at the De- partment for Technology and Social Change, the program for Technol- ogy, Practice and Identity. You have broadened my perspective and asked questions I suspect a researcher in education never would ask. Be- sides, it has been fun. My fellow doctoral students at the Department of Education and Psy- chology have meant a lot to me during the years, both academically and personally. It more or less seems that getting one's Ph.D. makes one more distant for that group, as the bases for our fellowship to a large de- gree are the shared joys and troubles of being a postgraduate student. In case that is inevitable I want to thank you all for the support during these years. In the realm of engineering education I want to thank first and fore- most all the reformers at LiTH and Chalmers, who generously shared their thoughts with me. When working with a arduous project such as a Ph.D., it is decidedly an advantage to be regularly confronted with peo- ple who are both inspired and sagacious. Thank you for both the infor- mation and the inspiration. In addition to the above I want to thank professor Ingemar Ingemars- son in particular, for his opening of many doors and being helpful in every possible way, and professor Bertil Svensson for willingly offering all assistance needed to conduct the study at Chalmers. Very much prac- tical assistance has been offered to me by Inge la Wiklund at LiTH and Marianne Annbrink at Chalmers. L worked with the people who initially also want to thank In this context I Engineering for Women" in "Computer Science and the project for the Chalmers no reformers at LiTH and above about the Lulea. What is said the gen- this book, but without You are not visible in less applies to you. gender in engi- and experiences on sharing of your perspective erous much poorer. this book would be neering education differ- have been made by important contributions More selective but chap- conference papers and reading and commenting on ent people, in discarded in rewritten and sometimes have been written, ters which Roman, to thank Christine book. Especially I want working towards this weaknesses and finding new job in pointing out who did an excellent Christina Mört- seminar. Even manuscript in the final meanings in the things I did to help me to see Rasmussen took their time berg and Bente written dif- that should have been the book and things not know were in ferently. Anette Augustsson tran- Lena Larsson and Angelica Gunnarsson, checked my English and Maurice Devenney scribed the interviews. the final touch to the and Gunilla Johansson gave translated the citations assistance. thank you all for your the book. I want to appearance of Co- for Planning and by Swedish Council This study was supported ordination of Research. academic cul- excursions to the two While I have disappeared on my share of the taken care of even my husband Lennart has tures, my daily practical concerns of ignore much of the washing-up. Being able to But even during some stages. necessity, especially family life has been a work as of always regarding my has been your attitude more important doubt. myself have been in worthwhile, even when I important and but any choice and Sonja - I never gave you As to Tove, Veronika her seemed to prefer work to mother who at times putting up with a have and it is you who during those periods, family. I have missed you academic to an abstract disappearing from reality kept me from totally importance of reminding me of the for constantly enterprise. Thank you first. putting first things Innehillsförteckning 1. Introduction 9 What this study is and is not 9 What this study looks at and how 10 Some concepts that are used 12 Introduction to the rest of the book 13 2. Engineering education in a gender perspective 15 What is a Swedish "civilingenjor" 15 Women in engineering education 17 A historical background 17 Scandinavian research on women and engineering education 20 Universities of technology as environments for female students 21 Engineering education as an ordeal 23 Changing engineering education to recruit more women 26 3. Gender och gender contracts 28 A choice of perspectives 28 Gender 31 Gender contracts 37 What is a Gender Contract 37 Change in gender contracts 39 4. Examples of gender contracts on three different levels 43 Institutional level gender in organisations 43 Women and men in organisations 43 Tokenism 46 Does balance in numbers change contracts? 49 Gender in Higher Education 50 Individual level identity 52 The cultural overlay level gender and technology 57 Technology is Masculine in itself 57 How about the computer? 59 Looking at Computer Engineering Education in Terms of Gender Contracts 63 5 5. Reproduction and reform in higher education 66 66 The work of Pierre Bourdieu 67 Bourdieu and gender Habitus, capital, field and doxa 70 74 On reproduction Looking at engineering education with 76 Bourdieuan eyes 80 Vertical and Horizontal Reproduction Lundgren's model of two kinds of reproduction 80 in education 83 Central authorities and local arenas 85 6. Method 85 Description of the method 87 Observations 90 Interviews 92 Other data sources 93 Methodological reflections 93 On interviewing engineering faculty 95 My way to grounded theory and back again 97 Criteria of qualitative research and my study 99 Dilemmas in reporting 7. How gender equality in higher education became 101 pedagogical reforms in engineeing education 101 Interactions on the central level 106 Transporting the money to the local level 110 Project evaluation 113 8.Introduction to the empirical report 113 Themes of the empirical chapters 115 A short chronological account 116 LiTH 118 Chalmers 121 9. Reformers' ideas about women and engineering Why should there be more women in computer 121 engineering 123 Why do women stay out of engineering education 126 Women's situation in the present education 128 Female computer engineering students as special 6 Women as learners and problem-based learning 129 Chalmers 132 Summary of Chapter Nine 134 10. Work in the planning groups 137 Competing interests 137 Lack of knowledge 143 The position of women in the planning work 151 Even at Chalmers many of the Pedagogical interest, knowledge and women's position in the Chalmers team 155 Summary of chapter ten 160 11. The institutional context 163 Making engineering education - keeping it technical and tough 164 Relating to different groups in the context 167 What did the money do? 170 The institutional leadership 171 Ambivalence towards a feminine image 174 The Chalmers context 177 Summary of chapter eleven 183 12. Some features of the programmes as planned 185 Female-friendliness at LiTH 185 A programme for ordinary women? 188 Female-friendliness at Chalmers 191 Summary of chapter 12 193 13. The programmes as they turned out 195 Basic data 196 Is the programme gender-inclusive? 196 The programme in its context 200 Conceptions of female students 201 Sex vs. academic orientation 203 General impressions from the first year at Chalmers 205 Implicit expectations on programming at Chalmers 208 Problems with academic orientation at Chalmers 210 Summary of chapter thirteen 212 7 215 14. Discussion of the results Is gender inclusive equivalent to recruiting many 216 women? 219 The results in summary 222 The worlds of Hirdman and Bourdieu Council and The interplay between state authorities, the 223 the universities for gender reform 226 University of technology as a context of Looking at the programmes as reproduction 234 masculine dominance 236 What happened to the gender contracts 239 Possibilities for change 242 References
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