The Status of Women in Engineering Education in Malaysia- a UTP experience

Research findings indicate a global phenomena of a decline in the overall enrolment in engineering programs. The number of women in engineering education reported in the United States and Australia is increasing but at a very slow pace. What is the status of women in engineering education in Malaysia? The aim of this paper is to share the status of women in engineering education from the Malaysian perspective, focusing on the experience in Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, a private university situated in the northern part of peninsular Malaysia offering only engineering and technical programs,. Besides looking at the enrolment and graduates, the researcher also carries out a survey using two separate questionnaires for students and faculty members of the university, with the objective of discovering the general perception of women in engineering education from the students and the faculty members’ point of view. Results of the survey are analyzed and represented using Microsoft EXCEL. The findings show how the male students and faculty accept women in engineering education as well as how the female students and faculty see themselves involved in the so-called male-dominant environment.