Student Progress and Gender in Civil Engineering: a Research Note from the Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Mexico

University files provided information about the academic career of all students enrolled in the Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering program in the uaemex, from its creation in 1956 until 2006. This produced a data base of 3 630 registered individuals. By applying the sex ratio, the gender distribution is analyzed for those enrolled, those that finished the course work (ABD Status) and those that have obtained the graduate diploma. From 1956 to 1961 there was no female enrollment in this career and the first woman to enroll was in 1962. It took another eight years for the second woman to enroll and finally in 1972 female enrollment stabilized. The sex ratios for enrollment were reduced from 180 men per woman during the five years period from 1961 to 1965 to 3.9 men per woman between 2001 and 2005. Similar behavior can be observed in the sex ratio to finished course work (ABD Status) and to obtain an official graduate diploma. Women indexes are higher than men when relating finished course work/enrollment and actual graduation, which points to a higher terminal efficiency in the female stratum.