Gender regimes in the learning experiences of female engineering students: the case of a Mauritian higher education institution.
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Date
2020
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Abstract
This study explores the influences of gender regimes in the learning experiences of
female engineering students at a higher education institution in Mauritius. The
feminist paradigm informs the problematisation and the choice of a case study as
research methodology.
Data was produced through reviewing of documents, qualitative questionnaires,
focus group discussions and critical individual conversations to produce deep
textured insights into the challenges faced by participants. The sample for the
qualitative questionnaires comprised 12 female students from Year 1, Year 2 and
Year 4 of the engineering major and from these 12 participants, a sample selection of
9 participants was chosen for the focus group discussions. The qualitative
questionnaires and the focus group discussions were used to sample out 6
participants for the critical individual conversations. The data was thematically
analysed through an inductive approach.
The findings reveal the workings of gender regimes through how power is
negotiated, claimed and legitimised by male and female students alike. The role of
academic teaching staff in perpetuating certain discourses, practices and perspectives
are equally highlighted.
The ‘operations of gender regimes in higher education institution’, which is an
exploration of Connell’s theory of gender relations (2002), is presented and
analysed. The findings draw attention to the density of gender regimes in a higher
educational context through the concept of ‘intersectionality’ that is, powerlessness
of individuals towards discrimination and oppression. The complexity of gender
regimes in higher education is unpacked and power emerges as a salient feature of
gender regimes. Four dimensions of gender relations namely gender division of
labour, gender relations of power, emotion and human relations and gender culture
and symbolism are inter-connected. Gender relations of power are explored, and it is
found that they comprise epistemic power, cultural power, psychological power and
social power. Although intersectionality does not constitute the original theoretical
lens of this study, the findings draw attention to how class, ethnicity and culture
coalesce in both collective and individual experiences of being a female engineering
student.
The thesis concludes by elaborating on the theoretical contributions of the study and
the implications of the findings on theory and on policy while pointing to the
limitations of the study and proposing possibilities for future research.
Description
Doctoral Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.