2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Decoding Determinants: An Intersectional Exploration of Students' Decision-Making for Graduate Engineering Education

Presented at Voices of Diversity: Perspectives and Experiences in STEM Education

Over the ten-year period from 2011 to 2020, a major research-based Canadian university experienced a 5% increase in female enrollment in postgraduate engineering programs, exceeding the national average. Nonetheless, an intriguing discrepancy emerges when juxtaposed with the 15% surge in female undergraduate enrollment during the same period. Such a disparity underscores a significant potential for bolstering women's transition from undergraduate to graduate studies. Capitalizing on this latent pool of female undergraduates could further propel gender equity in the university's engineering program.

This paper delves into the demographic determinants influencing students' inclination towards graduate studies, assessing the nuances of gender, citizenship status, disability, race, sexual orientation, and family education. The presented findings emanate from the fourth phase of an extensive multiphase mixed-method research project. The project seeks to elucidate the impediments that underrepresented students, particularly women, face in pursuing graduate engineering degrees and the potential solutions to overcome those barriers.

Our methodology in this phase encompassed a comprehensive mixed-method survey, garnering responses from over 600 undergraduate and graduate engineering students within the Engineering Faculty. Preliminary analyses revealed that the decision to pursue graduate studies is influenced by intersectional identity variables.

In the sphere of engineering education, the pursuit of diversity, inclusion, and equity has long been recognized as imperative, yet the representation and participation of women and minority groups in graduate degrees remains a pressing concern. A significant hindrance has been Canada's erstwhile data collection methodologies, which have not robustly and systematically captured granular demographic information about students' race, disability, sexual orientation, and familial backgrounds. This has historically stymied a detailed intersectional analysis of engineering students' experiences and the factors driving their post-undergraduate academic choices. This research facilitates a more discerning examination of intersectional influences by meticulously incorporating these crucial demographic variables into our comprehensive survey and analyzing the responses from a substantial cohort of engineering students. The results enrich the academic literature on equitable engineering graduate recruitment and retention, adding layers of complexity and depth.

Authors

Dr. Najme Kishani University of Toronto [biography]

Najme Kishani (najme.kishanifarahani@utoronto.ca) is a research associate at the University of Toronto to advance gender analysis and equity in engineering. Najme did her PhD at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto. Her research interests involve the role of education in enhancing young people'sagency to transform social conflicts and build peace and democracy. In her careers in international development at UNICEF and Education Development Center, in the Middle East, East Africa, and Carribeans Najme had been working to strengthen institutional capacity to promote equity and justice for minoritized populations and advance equitable quality education. Before switching into education, Najme was a civil engineer for eight years. Her passion for education and development made her to switch to social sciences. Her current role, as the research associate in an Engineering Faculty, bridges her engineering background to her passion and endeavors for social justice and gender equity in the engineering context.
Prof. Jason Bazylak University of Toronto [biography]

Jason Bazylak brings his engineering, education, and design experience to his role at the University of Toronto. He currently coordinates an award winning first year design course (Engineering Strategies and Practice), conducts research into reducing the under-representation of women and Indigenous people in engineering, and is the Dean’s Advisor on Indigenous Initiatives. Professor Bazylak started his career as a manufacturing engineer before he returned to academia as an engineer-in-residence. In 2008 he joined the University of Toronto as a teaching stream professor where he is heavily involved in design education. He most recently won the Hart Teaching Innovative Professorship for his work to increase engineering engagement with Indigenous students and communities.
Prof. Aimy Bazylak University of Toronto [biography]

Prof. Aimy Bazylak is the Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Clean Energy and Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the U of T. In 2011, she was awarded the I.W. Smith Award from the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering, and she received the Ontario Early Researcher Award in 2012. From 2015-2018, she served as the Director of the U of T Institute for Sustainable Energy. In 2015 she was named an Alexander Von Humboldt Fellow (Germany), and in 2019 she was named a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. In 2020 she was awarded the U of T McLean Award and was elected to the Royal Society of Canada College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists. In 2021, she served as the Vice-Dean Undergraduate (Interim), and in 2022, she served as the Director (Interim) of the Division of Engineering Science for the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering. In 2022 she was elected as a Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada (EIC) for excellence in engineering and services to the profession and to society. In 2023, she is a Helmholtz International Fellow with the Helmholtz Association (Germany).

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