2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Characterization of leadership styles, with a gender approach: a study with final-year students from an Engineering School in Chile

Presented at Women in Engineering Division (WIED) Technical Session 4

In Chile, women make up the majority of higher education students, yet only 20% of engineering graduates are women, according to OECD data. This general masculinization affects not only gender distribution in engineering, but also women's opportunities in attaining leadership roles. Limited access to higher-level positions having greater decision-making powers and better salaries shows ongoing vertical gender segregation in various industries. Leadership style is defined as the blend of traits, skills, and behaviors that leaders exhibit when interacting with their team. Given that the dominant leadership model in organizations is male- oriented, studies have shown the benefits of gender equality in leadership positions where female leadership characteristics are crucial. Future engineers must be equipped to assume leadership roles, which can be achieved through their education. This present investigation aims to study leadership characteristics of final-year students in the Industrial Engineering program in the engineering faculty of a prominent Chilean university. The goal is to identify various leadership styles in students and compare differences and similarities based on gender. A questionnaire, with Likert-scale responses, was used to gather data on leadership styles and skills. The results allow for an analysis of various leadership styles present in final-year Industrial Engineering students, highlighting differences and similarities in the sample by gender. Based on these findings, recommendations are made to foster desired leadership styles in formative years, aligning with current organizational demands for decision-making positions.

Authors

Prof. Camila Zapata Universidad Andres Bello, Santiago, Chile [biography]

Master in Marketing and Market Research from the University of Barcelona, Spain. Industrial Civil Engineer from the Universidad del Bío-Bío. She has three diplomas in the areas of coaching, digital marketing and equality and empowerment of women. Her professional experience is linked to higher education as a project engineer and university management in the public and private area. Teacher at different universities in matters of entrepreneurship, business plans and marketing. She currently works as a teacher and academic secretary at the Faculty of Engineering of the Andrés Bello University. The areas of research interest are the impact, relationship and integration of the gender perspective within communications and marketing in the various areas of development, digital marketing and content marketing.
Miss Yunia Valentina Recaman Universidad Andres Bello, Santiago, Chile
Prof. Maria Elena Truyol http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1153-4967 Universidad Andres Bello, Santiago, Chile [biography]

María Elena Truyol, Ph.D., is full professor and researcher of the Universidad Andrés Bello (UNAB). She graduated as physics teacher (for middle and high school), physics (M.Sc.) and Ph.D. in Physics at Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina. In 2013 she obtained a three-year postdoctoral position at the Universidade de Sao Paulo, Brazil. Her focus is set on educational research, physics education, problem-solving, design of instructional material, teacher training and gender studies. She teaches undergraduate courses related to environmental management, energy and fundamentals of industrial processes at the School of Engineering, UNAB. She currently is coordinating the Educational and Academic Innovation Unit at the School of Engineering (UNAB) that is engaged with the continuing teacher training in active learning methodologies at the three campuses of the School of Engineering (Santiago, Viña del Mar and Concepción, Chile). She authored several manuscripts in the science education area, joined several research projects, participated in international conferences with oral presentations and key note lectures and serves as referee for journals, funding institutions and associations.

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