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a. Maths science education is very important for girls in the choice of engineering. The women engineers had found their school experience in these subjects both pleasurable and formative in their self understanding of their capacities and talents. Related to this is the value of teacher support in choosing a non-traditional career such as engineering, especially in the case of young women who do not have any family connections with the profession.
b. In terms of professional education there is a need for an educational experience that includes more than skilling for the job in order to fit people for the workplace environment. None of the engineers interviewed had any doubts about the adequacy of their initial degree in terms of preparing then with the necessary skills for the technical work. However many engineers, and most particularly the women, did look for more understanding of the politics of the workplace and the development of strategies in order to position themselves more effectively and comfortably as colleagues. The women’s experience of working life could have been improved had the pre-service courses engaged with some socially aware study whereby students were introduced to the history and traditions of engineering and the need for change contingent upon the present climate of globalisation and the knowledge economy.
References
Bourdieu, P., 2000. The politics of protest. An interview with Kevin Ovenden. Socialist Review, 42, 18–20.
Shotter, J. and Gergen, K. eds., 1989. Texts of identity. London: Sage.
Wenger, E., 1998. Communities of practice: learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press
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