The Impact of Program Experiences on the Retention of Women Engineering Students in Mexico

摘要

This qualitative study sought to describe and understand the experiences offemale students attending engineering colleges in Mexico and the sources of support andstrategies that helped them persist in their programs. The participants were 20 womenengineering students enrolled in at least their third year in selected colleges ofengineering in Mexico, in both public and private universities, and pursuing a variety ofengineering majors.Findings focus on the experiences of female students that helped them stay intheir programs. Participants described their experiences in college as very challengingand perceived the environment as hostile and uncertain. In addition, patriarchal Mexicancultural values and stereotypes were identified by students as influencing and helpingshape the engineering environment. However, in this context, participants were able tofind sources of support and use strategies that helped them remain in their majors, suchas a strong desire to succeed, a perceived academic self-ability; and support from theirfamilies, peers, institutions, and?most importantly?their professors. Furthermore, the fact that participants were able to persist in their programs gave them a sense of prideand satisfaction that was shared by their families, peers, and faculty.In addition, participants experienced contradictory forces and were constantlynegotiating between rejecting traditional gender norms and upholding the norms that areso deeply engrained in Mexican society. Finally, as the students advanced in theirprograms and became ?accepted to the club,? they tended to reproduce the maledominatedvalue system present in engineering colleges accepting their professors?expectations of being ?top students,? accepting the elitist culture of engineeringsuperiority, and embracing the protection given by their male peers.Retention of Mexican female engineering students is important for allengineering colleges, but cultural factors must be taken into consideration. Thedominance of machismo attitudes and values in Mexican culture present specificchallenges to achieve an environment more supportive of women in Mexicanengineering colleges. Institutions need to be proactive and creative in order to helpfaculty and administrators provide an environment in which female engineering studentscan be successful.