Digital Commons Network^™

Should Teaching Guides Be Used As Indicators Of Gender Dimension In A University Degree?, Elisabet Mas De Les Valls, Marta Peña, Noelia Olmedo-Torre, Amaia Lusa

Research Papers

In order to achieve a truly equality society, universities are making significant efforts towards gender mainstreaming. One of the main pillars of this approach is the implementation of a gender dimension in teaching. To assess the degree of progress towards this goal, suitable indicators, both qualitative and quantitative, are desirable. Surveys could be used to gather students’ perceptions or educators’ efforts as indicators, but an underutilised source of information is available in the teaching guides. Teaching guides are understood as those open-access documents where the public can find a subject’s description, goals, and contents, among other universityspecific features.The aim of …

Exploring Women’S Teamwork Experiences In Engineering Education: A Phenomenological Analysis, Sandra Ireri Cruz Moreno, Shannon Chance, Brian Bowe

Research Papers

Teamwork, project or problem based learning, and other collaborative learning strategies are often presented as approaches that benefit women and other minorities during their studies in Science and Engineering fields of education. This is based on the assumption that underrepresented groups will respond positively to the social integration and cooperation encouraged by these learning methods. However, research also shows that gendered stereotypical presuppositions about attributes and interests can influence the performance of team members and the tasks developed, potentially providing opportunities to sexism, racism, and other exclusionary social behaviours.

A Look Inside The Engineering Students’ Backpack: Differences In Engineering Capital According To Gender Or Migration Background., Mieke Cannaerts, Sofie Craps, Veerle Draulans, Greet Langie

Research Papers

Every student has a unique combination of experiences, resources and social networks related to engineering, called ‘engineering capital’, derived from Archer’s concept of ‘science capital’. The engineering capital gathered throughout life creates a backpack that impacts someone’s aspirations to study engineering, as well as the performance and persistence in the programme itself. Engineering technology is one of the most homogeneous fields within the STEM domain, being mostly white and male. To stimulate a more diverse engineering technology field, this research paper investigates the relationship between the level of engineering capital and gender or migration background, as well as the influence …

The Relevance Of Gender For Excellent Research And Innovation: An Opinion, Yvonne Galligan

Irish Journal of Academic Practice

This piece argues that the integration of sex and/or gender in research improves the quality of the research, contributes to excellence in the research process and makes the outcomes beneficial to society.

The First Annual Teaching And Research Showcase Poster Tu Dublin – The Proof Is In The Pudding – Using Perceived Stress To Measure Short-Term Impact In Initiatives To Enhance Gender Balance In Computing Education, Alina Berry, Sarah Jane Delany

Other resources

The problem of gender imbalance in computing higher education has forced academics and professionals to implement a wide range of initiatives. Many initiatives use recruitment or retention numbers as their most obvious evidence of impact. This type of evidence of impact is, however, more resource heavy to obtain, as well as often requires a longitudinal approach. There are many shorter term initiatives that use other ways to measure their success.

First, this poster presents with a review of existing evaluation measures in interventions to recruit and retain women in computing education across the board. Three main groups of evaluation come …

Definition And Characteristic Features Of A ‘Cultural Flashpoint’: A Case Study Of Exploring Masculinities, A Controversial Gender And Education Programme In Ireland, Joan Hanafin, Paul Conway, Cormac O Beaglaoich, Jack Hanafin

Articles

The concept ‘cultural flashpoint’ (CF) has not been fully defined or described. The authors test this concept through the prism of a controversial gender-focused Irish school programme, Exploring Masculinities (EM). Adopting an instrumental case study methodology, they use media content analysis to develop a temporal trajectory of the CF, describe its shape, explicit and implied contentious themes, and its process. They identify characteristic features of a cultural flashpoint: (i) a focal issue, event and/or object; (ii) conflict; (iii) bounded time period; (iv) the involvement of exo- and multi-sectoral individuals and groups; (v) randomness, opaqueness and conflation among its expressions; and …

Engineering Society: The Role Of Intersectional Gender And Diversity Studies For A Sustainable Transformation On The Case Of Interdisciplinary Engineering Education, Jennifer Bosen, Sebastian Bernhard, Evamaria Fauster, Marie Decker, Miriam Lämmerhirt, Carmen Leicht-Scholten

Practice Papers

Technological innovations are impacting societies in manifold ways and can accelerate a transformation toward sustainability. To enable a sustainable transformation through engineering, engineers educated to create technological solutions for global challenges must be educated in sustainability principles as postulated under ‘Education for Sustainable Development’ (ESD) in the Agenda for Sustainable Development. In technological fields, the ecological, as well as the economical perspective of sustainability, are often addressed, but as recent research has highlighted, sustainability needs to be addressed holistically; this means including the social dimension to a greater degree and applying an intersectional understanding of gender and diversity throughout all …

Digitalisation As An Opportunity For Women In Stem: Researching The Nexus Of School, University And Labour Market, Yves Jeanrenaud, Anna-Kathrin Wimmer

Practice Papers

In Germany, women are still dramatically underrepresented in the fields of STEM, especially in engineering: less than 25 percent of engineering students are female. Correspondingly underrepresented are women in engineering positions, too. Research has shown that diversity in the work force is crucial to develop successful solutions for a complex and sustainability-oriented world.

Therefore, our ongoing research project (01FP22M01), funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), focusses on the underrepresentation of women in STEM, especially in mechanical and plant engineering. Using mixed methods of qualitative interviews and quantitative online surveys with female pupils, students and employees, as …

The Proof Is In The Pudding – Using Perceived Stress To Measure Short-Term Impact In Initiatives To Enhance Gender Balance In Computing Education, Alina Berry, Sarah Jane Delany

Academic Posters Collection

The problem of gender imbalance in computing higher education has forced academics and professionals to implement a wide range of initiatives. Many initiatives use recruitment or retention numbers as their most obvious evidence of impact. This type of evidence of impact is, however, more resource heavy to obtain, as well as often requires a longitudinal approach. There are many shorter term initiatives that use other ways to measure their success.

First, this poster presents with a review of existing evaluation measures in interventions to recruit and retain women in computing education across the board. Three main groups of evaluation come …

Vying For And Forgoing Visibility: Female Next Gen Leaders In Family Business With Male Successors, Martina Brophy, Maura Mcadam, Eric Clinton

Articles

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the identity work undertaken by female next generation to navigate (in)visibility in family businesses with male successors. To enhance understanding of gendered identity work in family businesses, the authors offer important insights into how female next generation use (in)visibility to establish legitimacy and exercise power and humility in partnership with male next generation in their family business. Design/methodology/approach – This empirical qualitative paper draws upon in-depth interviews with 14 next generation female leaders. Findings – This study offers a model to show how female next generation establish their legitimacy amongst …

The Use Of Data Balancing Algorithms To Correct For The Under-Representation Of Female Patients In A Cardiovascular Dataset, Sian Miller

Dissertations

Given that women are under-represented in medical datasets, and that machine learning classification algorithms are known to exhibit bias towards the majority class, the growing application of machine learning in the medical field risks resulting in worse medical outcomes for female patients. The Heart Failure Prediction (HFP) dataset is a historical dataset used for the training of models for the prediction of heart disease. This dataset contains significantly fewer female patients than male patients, and as such it is expected that models trained using this data will inherit a gender bias to favour male patients. This dissertation explores the use …

Evaluation Of Gender-Based Differences In Primary School Maths Education: The Potential Of Digital Games, Maíra Amaral

Academic Posters Collection

Digital Game-Based Learning is shown to be a more effective instructional method than traditional instruction, however less effective than other technology-supported instruction according to Byun and Joung (2018). Regarding gender aspects, according to findings by Mclaren and colleagues in 2022, girls may learn more mathematics from digital learning games than boys. In their study, even reporting greater behavioural and cognitive engagement, boys did not learn more with the game than girls.

Techmate: A Research-Driven Toolkit To Enhance Gender Balance In Computing Education, Alina Berry, Sarah Jane Delany

Academic Posters Collection

This poster presents a toolkit of practical initiatives and guidance on how to enhance gender balance in computing higher education. The suggested initiatives are designed in the way that could be adapted for a use in a local context, especially in universities in the UK or in Ireland. The initiatives are categorised under four main areas: Policy, Pedagogy, Influence & Support and Promotion & Engagement. Additionally, guidance is given on mechanisms to evaluate the impact of these initiatives. This work will be of interest to champions looking to enhance gender balance in their computing courses.