Informal barriers to women entering engineering

These data were collected to discern the relationship between certain characteristics of engineering programs and the informal social processes, such as social isolation, conflicting career and family plans, and experiences of discrimination, which affect women who choose to enter the field of engineering.

The study was carried out at six educational institutions with engineering schools. The sample consisted of 485 students chosen through a stratified random sample. Students were divided by academic year, sex, and engineering vs. nonengineering school for each institution.

Structured interviews were conducted along with the administration of a questionnaire on each campus in 1980. The interview consisted of 119 close-ended and open-ended items covering demographic information, high school experiences, college major, career plans, perceptions of engineering and nonengineering students, and experiences of sex discrimination, social isolation, and conflicts.

The Murray Center has computer-accessible data from the questionnaire and copies of the interviews.