Track: Engineering Economy, Education & Management

Abstract

Female students in engineering programs are still fewer in number in contrast to male counterparts offering same courses after years of professional integration and learning convergence. Currently, in the focal group under exploration, only 28% of students at the faculty of engineering are females, which indicate a wide gap between male and female students within this faculty. The study focus is on identifying challenges which female students experience while studying engineering programs. This is imperative because engineering programs are now less gender selective and it is needful to identify the challenges female students are griping with in order to proffer solutions that will assist the students go through their studies with ease. To identify this problem, a quantitative research approach was taken and data was harnessed from registered female students within the faculty using questionnaires. The results of the study reveals that lack of funding support, inadequate academic mentorship, and peer pressure constitute some of the challenges experienced by female students in engineering faculty. The research outcome is useful as it provides data to guide management in taking informed decision that will address the low intake and number of female student drop out from the engineering faculty.