Empathy and gender inequity in engineering disciplines

Abstract

Based on analysis of published studies, we posit that the current owned identity of many engineering disciplines lacks empathy as a core element and that this may be a barrier to entry for women, especially in disciplines that are perceived as having little concern for the welfare of others. Moreover, as a consequence of this lack of empathy, the actual identity of engineering as embodied in faculty and academic programs may be in conflict with those human-centered values expressed by it's professional organizations. Therefore, to increase enrollment of women in engineering programs, a reformulation of the engineering identity to consciously incorporate empathy may be required. Our overall research efforts will be centered on first characterizing the empathetic aspects of this owned identity within some of the sub-disciplines of engineering, identifying the degree to which a perceived lack of empathy forms a barrier for women pursuing engineering as a field of study, and finally to formulate ways of transforming faculty and student attitudes in ways that will lead to the formation of an engineering identity that is more open to the concerns of women and more consistent with the values defined in the professional codes and creeds. This paper reports on our progress to date and our plans for future studies.

Publication Title

ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Conference Proceedings

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