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Identification of factors which facilitate and hinder the career adjustment of women engineers

University of British Columbia

A qualitative study involving twenty women engineers from the Lower Mainland and Kootenay region of British Columbia was undertaken to determine what factors hinder and facilitate their career adjustment. In the past, there has been an emphasis on the recruitment of women into the field of engineering; unfortunately, little attention has been given to retaining women once they finish their formal education. This study involved a semi-structured interview as well as a demographic questionnaire and focused on the factors which facilitated and hindered career adjustment. For those situations where women described incidents that hindered job satisfaction, they were also asked how they coped with these situations. Two additional pieces of information were gathered, how they chose to become engineers, and how they see their futures in engineering. Results from this study indicate that relationships in the workplace, career development issues, support, being excluded and women's issues are major factors in job satisfaction. Results also indicate that some methods of coping with hindering experiences may put some women at risk for leaving the field of engineering. Results from this study may assist counsellors and engineering associations in the development of strategies for the retention of women in engineering.

Thesis/Dissertation

application/pdf

2009-05-20

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/7992

Counselling Psychology

University of British Columbia

UBCV

DSpace