2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

The challenges faced by female engineers in a transitional economy are unique in the sense that central efforts for gender mainstreaming often co-exist with persistent vertical discrimination, which may reduce incentives for women to upgrade their skills. Even in countries that improved their relevant indicators in recent years, still face hidden issues that require careful consideration. Thus, this study was conducted to illuminate influences at the individual, interpersonal, organizational, and societal levels that are present as barriers to and facilitators for advancement in STEM studies and in particular engineering for females.
The authors conducted 18 individual semi-structured in-depth interviews with female undergraduate students at a leading, English-language and American style research university in Kazakhstan in 2022. Kazakhstan, being the leading country in Central Asia, represents interesting case study as it has achieved gender parity in its research workforce, but not in engineering. According to national statistics, only 32% of undergraduate students in STEM disciplines are female and this percentage is decreasing with the dropout of women from STEM as they move forward in their education. The analysis of the interviews revealed the main barriers, challenges, and issues influencing females and ranked their importance. A key outcome of the study is the importance of support, mainly from family and teachers, as it has the biggest impact on building confidence and retaining female engineers in their careers.