| Communications and Development |  |
Published by Communications and Development
A research group at the University of Canterbury has received a funding award from a charitable trust for a project investigating the role stereotypes may play in the under-representation of women in the fields of engineering and science.
The group, led by Associate Professor Lucy Johnston (Psychology), has received the Ria McBride Research Award from the New Horizons for Women Trust. The award, valued at $4000, was presented to the group at a ceremony held in Christchurch on 14 September.
The trust offers a number of funding awards for researchers undertaking projects relevant to women and girls in New Zealand, and also provides funding to help women return to education and training. The award presented to the UC research group was set up in honour of Ria McBride, the first woman appointed Chief Clerk of the Public Service Commission, which is now the State Services Commission.
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| (From left) PhD student Sanna Malinen, Associate Professor Lucy Johnston, Dr Philippa Martin and PhD student Tracey McLellan. |
Professor Johnston, who welcomed the award, said the number of women participating in engineering and science, at both educational and professional levels, remained low despite attempts by training institutes and professional bodies to encourage more female participation.
She said the UC research group planned to look at the problem by investigating whether sex-based stereotypes — both explicit and implicit — were preventing women from entering the engineering and science fields.
“What we want to do is look at the beliefs people have about science and engineering that associate these areas with men more than women. We want to find out how prevalent these beliefs are and the extent to which they might be impacting on women.”
Professor Johnston said the message women may be getting was that they were not capable of a career in engineering or science, or that it was not an appropriate field for them to enter into.
“They might be getting these messages explicitly from people telling them directly or they might be being conveyed more subtly through behaviours,” she said.
“For example, in school a science teacher may, without realising it, be encouraging boys in the subject more than girls through their behaviour, such as giving boys a bit more attention. While it is not deliberate, the girls in the class may pick up on these messages unconsciously and be put off the subject.
“It's all done very much without anyone being aware of it and it's not intentional but these messages could be having a huge impact. What we want to do is understand how these messages are being conveyed and picked up. If we can understand that process then we can try to come up with ways of minimising their impact.”
Professor Johnston will work on the project with Dr Philippa Martin (Electrical and Computer Engineering), and psychology PhD students Sanna Malinen and Tracey McLellan.
The group plans to invite teachers and students at Christchurch secondary schools, as well as students and lecturers at the University, to take part in the project. They will be asked to complete a range of computer-based and written tasks which will help the team asses the strength of the stereotypes and their relationship to student engagement in science and engineering.
Work on the project will begin this month and will be completed by June next year.
For further information please contact:
Stacey Doornenbal
Communications Officer
University of Canterbury
Tel: +64 3 364 2984
stacey.doornenbal@canterbury.ac.nz