The effects of gender on the success of a cohort of engineering students

Abstract

The gender imbalance in the Australian engineering profession is significant and many engineering educators seek to redress this imbalance. This paper considers the implications of gender on the academic success of male and female students in engineering and spatial science programs. In 2004 the authors began a longitudinal study to identify the key predictors of academic success for a sample of 131 (18 females) on-campus students enrolled in first-year engineering and spatial science programs at the University of Southern Queensland (USQ). Earlier papers reported on the individual differences factors that influenced academic success, showing that previous education achievement (tertiary entrance score) was the key factor in predicting academic success for engineering students during their first year of study (Burton and Dowling, 2005; Dowling and Burton, 2005; Burton, Taylor, Dowling and Lawrence 2009). This paper explores the nature of the relationships between cognitive abilities (spatial and verbal skills), personality, and academic success, for male and female students while they were enrolled in their program. Analysis of the data showed that academic success in first year proved to be a significant predictor of success for the remaining years of the program, and that the personality traits Agreeableness and Emotional Stability contributed to this success. The data also shows that although the attrition rate for the females was more than that for male students, the females were generally successful in first year. Had they continued, they would have successfully completed their engineering program because they had experienced success and had the cognitive abilities and personality traits that predicted success in the longer term.