The role of sub-discipline choice in women’s enrollment and success within Canadian undergraduate engineering programs

In Canada, the proportion of female students in engineering is considerably lower than the proportion of female students in higher education. Using Tinto’s (1993) theories concerning social and academic integration, this study investigated the relationships between the proportion of female undergraduate engineering students, and the proportion of female faculty, and departmental lead faculty. Using descriptive statistics, the study established that distinct and persistent differences exist in the proportions of female enrolment among schools and among sub-disciplines. This paper addresses a gap in the literature concerning the impact of sub-discipline choice on women's engagement and success within undergraduate engineering programs in Canada. The proportion of female students was found to vary considerably across the sub-disciplines, from 48% in biosystems to 15% in software engineering [14]. The paper will present female sub-discipline enrolment trends over time and discuss the impact of sub-discipline choice and institutional factors on female students' successful academic and social integration within Canadian engineering schools