Barriers to women in engineering: real or imaginary?

Today's Australasian engineers function in a very different environment to that of a generation ago. This paradigm shift reflects a move away from a profession that has been primarily involved with the development of services, to one that is increasingly embracing risk and asset management. Further, in light of an increasingly educated and environmentally aware public, engineers are also more accountable. Current initiatives to embrace sustainability within engineering along with this greater accountability could be interpreted as moves that would significantly increase the number of women in the profession. Interestingly, with few exceptions, this has not happened, and the engineering profession is still primarily male dominated. This paper looks at the enrolment trends and retention in engineering disciplines in a range of New Zealand and Australian universities, and analyses some of the potential barriers to women. It concludes with an expose of the myth that women are excluded because of perceived inabilities or intellectual deficiencies.