Search

Contribution: Stereotypes and immediate environment are the reasons for low enrollment of women in STEM studies. Background: The low number of women in STEM degree courses has been the subject of much research, which has found that the lack of female enrollment is not evenly distributed across all STEM studies. In some areas, such as computing, communications, and electrical and electronic engineering (CCEEE), not only has the number of women not increased, it has even fallen. Research Questions: Is there a stereotype for women taking STEM studies? Is this stereotype different between women taking CCEEE and non-CCEEE degrees? What are the main reasons that lead women to enroll in STEM studies? Methodology: A survey was sent to 3699 female students and STEM graduates belonging to the authors' university in six schools with a lowest level of enrollment, and 1060 replies were received. A qualitative study based on data analysis triangulation was performed. Findings: The women surveyed consider social stereotypes (31.47%) and the immediate environment (14.5%) as the main reasons for the low enrollment of women in STEM studies. Surprisingly, the third reason (11.03%) is that women do not like engineering. New knowledge concerning what motivates female students to enroll in STEM studies, what stereotypes they must struggle against, and the existence of possible differences between CCEEE and STEM but non-CCEEE female students could help policy makers and academia to improve female enrollment in STEM and, in particular, in CCEEE studies.

This article describes a subject design to train engineer students in soft skills through an experiential and person-centred approach, as is usually developed in companies for managers to incorporate responsible and ethical engineering perspectives. This design is based on an experiential methodology and its impact on students is presented. The subject, called "Personal and Professional Effectiveness", was designed and developed based on Covey's classic book "The 7 habits of highly effective people" and introduces ethical and social commitment among other contents. A detailed description of different activities carried out within the module is provided to allow replication. Students' perception, gathered from their reflexive diaries, and academic satisfaction survey results are presented. Students report that this teaching method leads to a deeper connection with themselves and increased awareness of their strengths and weaknesses. Students seem to have understood the importance of sustainability and how individual behavior impacts in an engineering team. They reflect on how being aware of their own strengths and difficulties helps them integrate different knowledge into their daily lives and how this can improve their behaviors, not only professionally, but also personally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes whether biosphere reserves (BR) and geoparks (GP) can serve as platforms to contribute to education for sustainable development by integrating local authorities and communities into the educational process. For two years, we conducted the integrated course named "UNESCO Biosphere Reserves and Geoparks", with a total number of 143 students. The curriculum was carefully designed together with the local government and community members. Both BR and GP increased the awareness and knowledge of regional sustainability and served as educational platforms to integrate the local government and communities inside the academic curriculum. Students replied that their knowledge about the BR and GP was raised by 83% and 92%, respectively. Practical field trips showed an increased awareness of the locals' efforts towards regional sustainable development. Both BR and GP provided site-specific knowledge and functioned as the learning platform to teach about the linkage of human–nature interaction towards regional sustainable development. Most of the students expressed that BR helped them to analyze the situation at the issue-oriented community level (76%), whereas GP helped them to think broadly about the relation of humans with the Earth at the global level (89%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]