Past research has attributed many reasons
for the under-representation of
women in engineering and academic careers which start from childhood and progress all
the way to professional levels in adulthood. The focus of this research is on
understanding barriers to further education experienced by female students
in
engineering
in order to encourage them into postgraduate study and an academic career.
A pilot study, an extensive survey of current students, both undergraduate and
postgraduate, and focus group meetings were undertaken to identify the w
ays female
students at present feel supported in pursuing a civil engineering degree and the forms of
further support that could be provided. The surveys sought answers on how best to
address the obstacles that discourage women from pursuing and completing
graduate
degrees.