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The aim of the paper was to better understand the influence of personal and contextual factors on women’s career decision making and interest in undergraduate engineering students. On the basis of Social Cognitive Career Theory and utilising a qualitative approach, nine interviews were conducted with women undergraduates at a university in Northern Italy. The results reveal four major aspects: a) the women’s interest in engineering is cultivated by different contextual factors in the same way across multiple cultures; b) self-efficacy affects their interest in engineering; c) this interest is nurtured by internal and external recognition; d) their career decision making is determined by an interdependence of personal and contextual factors. The paper contributes to promoting cultural changes in engineering fields. Some practical implications for education professionals and policy makers were also reported.

The participation of students in the educational process is a key to success for higher education. The implementation of activities in which students’ voice is heard via different practices and actors on mega, macro, meso and micro levels brings unexpectedly impressive results in learning. The article investigates the role of students’ voice in two public educational institutions in Latvia (University of Latvia) and Italy (University of Padua). The comparison is made in two categories, actors and practices, to respond to the research question of whether the Italian and Latvian systems support students’ participation/engagement in higher education. The comparative methodology of the study determined the differences and the similarities between the students’ voice practices of the two higher education institutions and proved that Italian and Latvian systems support students’ participation/engagement in higher education; although some improvements are still needed, they are on the right track to implementing it on all levels and in all dimensions.