COLLABORATIVE: Women's Engineering Participation in the US: What can the US Learn from Women's Decisions to Pursue Engineering in Diverse Cultural Contexts?

女性参与工程是一个至关重要的国家优先事项。美国工程师的短缺削弱了该国作为全球市场领导者的地位，并限制了我们解决基础设施挑战的能力。该项目涉及在四个国家（约旦、马来西亚、沙特阿拉伯和突尼斯）进行研究，以评估鼓励妇女在高等教育和职业生涯中参与工程的背景因素。在所确定的四个国家中，有三个国家（约旦、马来西亚和突尼斯），尽管社会、政治和经济方面限制了女性参与公共生活，但女性在工程领域的参与度远高于美国。在第四个国家（沙特阿拉伯），女性在工程领域的参与度也在上升。本项目旨在通过研究女性在这些背景下参与STEM的驱动因素，了解文化背景与扩大女性参与STEM之间的联系。这项研究意义重大，因为它有望记录鼓励女性在与美国截然不同的社会、政治和文化背景下成功参与STEM的因素。反过来，这些对女性成功的探索有望更广泛地揭示环境如何影响女性对STEM的参与，从而为我们在美国扩大参与的努力提供信息。技术摘要妇女参与工程是一个至关重要的国家优先事项。美国工程师的短缺削弱了该国作为全球市场领导者的地位，并限制了我们解决基础设施挑战的能力。该项目需要在四个国家（约旦、马来西亚、沙特阿拉伯和突尼斯）开展研究，以评估鼓励妇女在高等教育和职业生涯中参与工程的背景因素。在所确定的四个国家中，有三个国家（约旦、马来西亚和突尼斯），尽管社会、政治和经济方面限制了女性参与公共生活，但女性在工程领域的参与度远高于美国。在第四个国家（沙特阿拉伯），女性在工程领域的参与度也在上升。该项目旨在通过研究女性在这些背景下参与的经济、教育、社会文化、法律和政治驱动因素，了解文化背景与扩大女性STEM参与之间的联系。本项目将采用案例研究的方法，从焦点小组和深度访谈中收集丰富的数据，这些访谈对象为每个国家的女工科本科生、教师和执业工程师（总N=208-325）。这项研究意义重大，因为它有望记录鼓励女性在与美国截然不同的社会、政治和文化背景下成功参与STEM的因素。通过对女性课程和职业选择的跨国深入探索，以及对产生性别差异课程和职业决策的机制的关注，该项目有望更广泛地揭示背景如何影响女性成功参与STEM，从而为我们在美国扩大参与的努力提供信息。

Non-technical AbstractWomen's participation in engineering is a crucial national priority. The shortage of engineers in the US weakens the country's position as a leader in the global market and restricts our capacity to solve infrastructural challenges. This project involves research in four countries (Jordan, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, and Tunisia) to assess the contextual factors that encourage women's participation in engineering in tertiary education and as a career. In three of the four countries identified (Jordan, Malaysia, and Tunisia), women's participation in engineering is much higher than in the US, despite social, political, and economic restrictions on women's participation in public life. In the fourth country (Saudi Arabia), women's engineering participation is also on the rise. This project seeks to understand the links between cultural context and expanding women's STEM participation by studying the drivers of women's participation in these contexts. The research is significant because it promises to document factors that encourage women's successful participation in STEM in social, political, and cultural contexts that are very different from the US. These explorations of women's success, in turn, promise to shed light more generally on how context shapes women's participation in STEM in ways that inform our efforts to broaden participation in the US.Technical AbstractWomen's participation is engineering is a crucial national priority. The shortage of engineers in the US weakens the country's position as a leader in the global market and restricts our capacity to solve infrastructural challenges. This project entails conducting research in four countries (Jordan, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, and Tunisia) to assess the contextual factors that encourage women's participation in engineering in tertiary education and as a career. In three of the four countries identified (Jordan, Malaysia, and Tunisia), women's participation in engineering is much higher than in the US, despite social, political, and economic restrictions on women's participation in public life. In the fourth country (Saudi Arabia), women's engineering participation is also rising. This project seeks to understand the links between cultural context and expanding women's STEM participation by studying the economic, educational, socio-cultural, legal, and political drivers of women's participation in these contexts. This project will apply case study methods to collect rich data from focus groups and in-depth interviews in each country with female engineering undergraduate students, faculty members, and practicing engineers (total N=208-325). The research is significant because it promises to document factors that encourage women's successful participation in STEM in social, political, and cultural contexts that are very different from the US. With its cross-national, in-depth exploration of women's curricular and career choices and its attention to mechanisms producing gender-differentiated curricular and career decisions, this project promises to shed light more generally on how context shapes women's successful participation in STEM in ways that inform our efforts to broaden participation in the US.