Researching UK Women Professionals in SET: A Critical Review of Current Approaches
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Abstract
In the UK and elsewhere, progress and achievements in tackling the under-representation of women in science, engineering and technology (SET) are far outweighed by the investment in this area in terms of both research and initiatives. The authors attempt to explain this by presenting a critical analysis of the development of research on women professionals in SET. This critique is structured around four approaches identified in the literature: essentialist constructions of science and gender; barriers facing women professionals in SET; the assimilation of women in SET; and the business case for change. It is argued that existing research in the field does not always offer practical solutions for change and has a tendency to situate women as part of the problem. It concludes that future research and solutions must be multi-faceted, evidence-based and policy oriented if equality is to be perceived not only as a ‘women’s issue’ and real cultural change is to be instigated in the sector.
Keywords
science, engineering and technology, professions, cultures, occupations, gender
Author Biography
Sarah Barnard
Research Associate
Civil and Building Engineering
Abigail Powell
Research Associate
Social Policy Research Centre
Barbara Bagilhole
Professor of Social Policy and&Equal Opportunities, Department of Social Sciences
Andrew Dainty
Professor of Construction Sociology
Civil and Building Engineering