Gendered practices of constructing an engineering identity in a problem-based learning environment

This article examines the learning experiences of engineering students of both genders in a problem-based and project-organized learning environment (PBL) at a Danish university. This study relates an amalgam of theories on learning and gender to the context of engineering education. Based on data from a qualitative study of an electrical and electronics engineering study programme, this study found that studying engineering in a PBL environment involves not only the mastery of technological knowledge but also an engineering identity development process. However, the association of an engineering identity with masculinity and the culturally defined engineering competencies leads to different learning experiences for male and female students. The nature of hard-core engineering subjects, based on male interests, privileges men and acts as a barrier to women. The masculine culture in engineering communities of practice involves more effort in identity management for women students than their male peers.