Gender inequity in employment in East Asia’s engineering industry: exploratory analysis and theory/report-reflexive evidence from a survey

With the primary purpose to understand gender inequity in employment (GIE) in East Asia’s engineering industry, a large-scale multi-channel survey was conducted using a hybrid questionnaire design in Taiwan. The female respondents’ background profiles and their employment patterns were dissected, and the driving/depressing (positive/negative) factors affecting their labour participation rate (FLPR), as well as certain mental factors that were commonly seen but not frequently visited, were extracted using descriptive statistics and suitable visualisation methods. Discussions and insights were then made and explored by analysing the coupling between the survey results and available government/association reports and discussing the public ‘featured topics’ (e.g., the UN-defined topics, such as equivalent opportunities, occupational status, and the influential mental factors). Next, via literature/theory/report examination/linking, several questions, either frequently asked by researchers or concerned by practitioners, were revisited to see whether this study’s results could evidence existing theories in the literature. This drew several empirical implications, such as the unsuitability of hiring female personnel from connections, the intriguing role of women’s major (field of study or degree title) to elevate and depress the FLPR in parallel, the importance of addressing the depressing (rather than the driving) factors for FLPR. In so doing, this study adds to the knowledge set for institutional decision-makers or policymakers to alleviate GIE in the region.