CHAPTER 5: PRESENTING THE FINDINGS: LEARNING EXPERIENCES OF
5.3 Section 1: Biographic details of the participants
This section presents the five cases: Emma, Nisha, Salima, Olivia and Mia. There were two phases of critical individual conversations. Emma (Year 1), Nisha (Year 1), Salima (Year 2), Olivia (Year 2) and Mia (Year 4) were the participants for the first phase of critical individual conversations that were conducted separately for each participant. In the second phase of critical individual conversations, Emma, Nisha and Salima were the participants. In the second phase of critical individual conversations, Emma and Nisha were promoted to Year 2 whereas Salima was promoted to Year 3. The promotion to the next year of study did not impact on their interpretation of their learning experiences. On the contrary, the second phase of data production, which was conducted one year after the conduct of the first phase of data production, enriched the data and ensured the trustworthiness of data previously produced. In this section, the cases are presented in ascending order by year of study, for ease of comparison and discussion. The 5 participants were purposively chosen as the main participants, regarding their answers from the qualitative questionnaire and their participation in the focus group discussions, to allow collection of rich raw data.
Each case is presented by starting with a description of the profile of the participant;
her secondary school, physical appearance of the participant and family have been included. The profile constituted these aspects that also contributed to the learning experiences of the participant around the four earmarked themes. The elements that constituted the profile were linked to the gender regimes aspect of the dimension(s) of the theoretical framework that were explained in chapter 2, such as family, belief, human relations and culture, and that guided the study. The biographical profile provided information that was related to the presentation of the data findings. The information is deliberately brief, as I engage substantively with the experiences at a later stage.
5.3.1 Emma – Case 1
Emma did her secondary schooling in a state secondary school in the northern and rural region of the island, which is one of the best single-sex secondary schools of the island. At upper secondary education – for the Cambridge School Certificate
Examinations, she studied the three science subjects (Biology, Chemistry and Physics) for two years and at Cambridge Higher School Certificate Examinations, she studied Mathematics, Chemistry and Physics for two years. Emma had always been a brilliant student during her secondary schooling and scored good grades. She belonged to a traditional Asian family and had a bold personality, wearing her traditional Indian outfit ‘salwar kameez’ with her long hair in plaits. Studying civil engineering in higher education was one of her options amongst the other engineering fields, and is the reason why she studied Mathematics, Chemistry and Physics at Cambridge Higher School Certificate Examinations. Civil engineering had been her first option whereas mechanical and electrical engineering had been her second and third options. Emma was inspired by her brother, who was an engineer.
Her determination to become like her brother culminated in her confidence that she would overcome all obstacles and would become an engineer as shown below:
“He said that companies now love to hire more female engineers because they are so few in numbers. That’s why I want to become a civil engineer like my brother who after his graduation got employed in a private firm as a trainee engineer and is now a registered civil engineer. He worked on the construction of the new airport.”
Emma was in Year 1 of the BEng (Hons) Civil Engineering.
5.3.2 Nisha – Case 2
Nisha was of a small build and enjoys wearing dresses. She did her secondary schooling in an elite state secondary school in the central and urban region of the island. Her secondary school was a single-sex school and was the leading single-sex state secondary school of the island. At upper secondary education, she studied the science subjects, particularly Mathematics, Chemistry and Physics, for which she developed a passion. She came from an Asian family and lived in a rural area. Nisha had two younger brothers, who were also studying science subjects at secondary school level, and her father was an engineer. Nisha was inspired by her father and she always wanted to study engineering, which confirms the findings in the literature. To achieve gender neutrality, parents strive to foster environments in which their daughters are pushed to dream big and push limits (Bloom, 2018, p. 5).
Nisha reported how her father made science interesting for her to learn when she was younger and she was also convinced that she would become a civil engineer as illustrated below:
“Studying engineering was definitely in mind since a very young age as my father is an engineer…I fell in love with the science subjects since I was in primary school…I used to do the experiments found in the science textbook at home. For example, seed germination, volume of water in different forms of container, use of oxygen in burning…my dad helped me. That was so interesting to discover new things… Gradually when I grew up, then I was confident that I wanted to work in the construction field particularly civil engineering.”
Nisha’s secondary school played an important role in her life as it was an elite secondary school and she was always proud to have been part of it. She described herself as competitive and excelling academically was an important aim for her; she came across as confident. Nisha wanted to study engineering abroad to have international exposure but, due to financial restrictions, she had to study in Mauritius. Nisha was in Year 1 of the BEng (Hons) Civil Engineering.
5.3.3 Salima – Case 3
Salima attended a state secondary co-education school in the rural part of the island, which was amongst the best secondary schools of the island. From kindergarten to university, she had always been with male and female students. Salima was a
‘tomboy’ who was always in her jeans and she avoided wearing dresses, skirts or Asian female outfits. She was tall with her short haircut and her formal learning always occurred in a co-educational context. She liked practising ‘male students’
sports’ and doing typical guy type activities with her two brothers. Salima did not consider engineering a man’s field only, although she knew that there were not many female students in this field. At upper secondary school level, she did Mathematics, Chemistry and Physics. Both her parents were entrepreneurs and they ran a business in the city. Her parents wanted her to become an engineer and that is why she applied to the course, which was her second option. However, Salima’s first option was mechanical engineering. Being in Year 2 of the BEng (Hons) Civil Engineering, she had to fulfil the dreams of her parents as illustrated below:
“My first option was engineering. Being in Year 2 of the BEng (Hons) Civil Engineering, was a challenge for me, as I have to fulfil the dreams of my parents and to show to the world that there is no difference between boys and girls as had always been the case for me”
Salima was engaged in engineering, as she wanted to break the stereotype that engineering was meant for male students only.
5.3.4 Olivia – Case 4
Olivia attended a private Catholic single-sex secondary school in the central and urban parts of the island. She was in Year 2 of the BEng (Hons) Civil Engineering.
Before joining university, for seven years, she had been with female students only during her secondary schooling. Olivia studied all the science subjects (Chemistry, Physics and Biology including Mathematics) at upper secondary education. She did Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics as the main subjects whereas Biology as subsidiary subject for the Cambridge Higher School Certificate Examinations. To experience international exposure, she wanted to study engineering abroad but due to some financial limitations, she was enrolled on the engineering programme at Fly University. Olivia’s mother was a primary school teacher and her father worked in a bank. Olivia had an elder sister who was an accountant. During her secondary schooling, Olivia was a good athlete and participated in inter-school sports competitions.
5.3.5 Mia – Case 5
Mia attended a co-education state secondary school in the rural part of the island, which was amongst the best secondary schools of the island. Mia attended the same secondary school, as Salima and they had been friends in secondary school. From kindergarten to university, she had always been with both male and female students.
Mia had always liked building and designing things and she had many cousins who were engineers, so engineering was a field that she always thought she would love to do. Mia was inspired by her cousins, as shown below:
“I have always liked building and designing things and I have many cousins who are engineers and so civil engineering is a field that I always thought I will love to do.”
Being in Year 4 of the BEng (Hons) Civil Engineering, was quite stressful for her, as she found the course difficult and did not want to fail any module. Mia considered herself very lucky and proud to be enrolled on the programme, as the demand for the programme was very high and only the best applicants get the opportunity to do it.
Mia found the job of an engineer attractive as it creates, improves and protects the environment.
5.4 Section 2: Thematic organisation of the findings of critical individual