Sara Amani
As governments across the Arab region prioritise transitioning to a knowledge-based economy, STEM-based education (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) has also become a mainstay of the educational system.
Engineering enjoys a high social status in the Middle East, compared to most parts of the world, but does it attract enough women to choose this career?
Sara Amani, a graduate student at Texas A&M Qatar (TAMUQ), working on her PhD in interdisciplinary engineering with a focus on engineering education, hopes to shed some light on this occurrence.
In a research paper that won first place in the recent QU National 3MT competition, Amani spoke about the attractiveness of the engineering profession among women in Qatar.
According to Unesco, women could comprise as many as 60 percent of engineering students in the Arabian Gulf countries. Women in STEM in Jordan, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates fare better and feel more comfortable in mathematics than men.
“There are a lot of women who have studied engineering in the Middle East, and I noticed that at my university (TAMUQ), we have a majority of female students. There are so many female engineering students, but there’s still a notion that engineering is a male profession. So it is interesting to see that if this is a male-dominanted profession, then why more girls are taking up this major?” Amani told The Peninsula.
Being an engineering professional, Amani said she wanted to find out how many women remain in the profession after graduation. Using a sample size from TAMUQ alumni, she said the research, which would be concluded soon, raised more questions about the profession and women’s participation.
“The more we worked on it, the more questions we had to answer. So, it’s been very enlightening and eye-opening for me. We did surveys and interviews and limited the sample size to just TAMUQ female students and alumni. The project is strictly for TAMUQ women engineers, but the question is about Qatar because you can use the same data. After all, it’s the same people living in the country,” she added.
Amani noted that in the course of the research, they discovered that majority of the female engineering students enjoy full family support while studying.
“Interestingly enough, family support is very high for women in engineering in the region. It’s something people might not expect, but most of our participants said their families supported their decisions,” Amani said.
“There are some instances where parents might be hesitant about their daughters going into engineering because it is a male-dominated industry, which is more of a cultural factor.”
According to her, engineering is very respected in the region.
“Parents would want the best for their daughters in terms of going into a highly respected field. It is not always about the fact that engineering is a money-making major as well. It’s both.”
Besides the prestige, many young women graduates see engineering and technology as areas full of opportunities and where everything is possible. Also, the presence of oil and gas means that going into engineering is a patriotic move to serve the country and give back to what fuels the economy.
“Patriotism is one of the responses we got from the survey. Many people want to go into an industry that they see is impacting the world around them. This is a big factor,” she said.
However, despite all the positives, most female engineers still face challenges after their first degree.
“When it comes to graduating and furthering their education, either masters or academia or even the actual practical engineering, which includes going on-site, onshore and on the rig, that’s where the challenge happens and when in some cases the support goes away,” Amani said.
She stressed that more female representation in academia and fieldwork would help break the barrier.
“Many people would be uncomfortable if their daughter, sister, or wife were to go into an office full of men. A lot of this is due to the lack of representation on the job. I think if there are more ladies on the job, then that could help.
“A lot of women who are mothers find it hard to balance family and work life. Also, many times, women might not get opportunities to travel because engineering requires a lot of that, and sometimes women aren’t even offered the chance to travel. Their supervisors may assume the husband doesn’t want them to, and they don’t get offered because of that.”
Amani stressed that she hopes the research starts a conversation and highlights the issues facing female engineers. The study would also help prospective students understand the road ahead and the realities of the industry.
