ENGINEERING OR COMPUTER SCIENCE, WHAT IS THE DEAL?

There is still a gender bias in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) sector. The progress towards gender balance has been very slow. The situation is not good enough in engineering education and is even worse in computer science. Many studies have been carried out and many projects and efforts have been made to accelerate the development over the years. Influencing factors are many when young people are deciding what subject to study at university and the trend is still for males to go for STEM studies and females to aim for health sciences and social sciences. This paper presents findings from a study on gender differences in engineering and computer science by questioning female students at the university level to learn what could be the reasons for more girls preferring STEM study and how they are doing in their study. This topic touches on CDIO Standards 1 (program philosophy), 7 and 8 (new methods of teaching and learning).