Abstract:

While there has been considerable effort worldwide to identify and attract underrepresented groups of students into engineering and change the demographic profile to be more representative of the general population, in New Zealand, this has by and large not been successful. Typically, Māori and female students are still underrepresented in engineering study, particularly at polytechnics, and each make up between 5% and 10% of the annual intake. This is low when compared with the national proportion of those identifying as Māori (17.4% in the 2022 census) and of course even lower for women (50.4% in the 2022 census).

The introduction of degree apprenticeship learning in the United Kingdom has shifted this trend of low enrolments for “male dominated” professional study. Clarke (2018), in a study on the impact of degree apprenticeships on social mobility, has shown that the introduction of degree apprenticeships has had a positive impact on enrolment figures for women in areas of study, traditionally seen to be male and also on the enrolment of minorities typically underrepresented in areas that are critical for economic growth like Information Technology as well as Science and Engineering.

Apart from being more responsive to the needs of industry, an important reason for introducing and piloting a degree apprenticeship in engineering in 2020 was to address the shortages of women and Māori engineers in society in New Zealand and to provide a mechanism for improving social mobility. This appears to have worked well for women, where the proportion has improved from 8% in the standard face to face version of the degree to 19% in the degree apprenticeship version. This is not the case for Māori students where the proportions have remained the same (7%).

Using qualitative data gathered from surveys and interviews with both employers as well as students, we have investigated some of the reasons why the enrolment by women in the apprenticeship version of the degree has been markedly higher than those in the face-to-face version of the degree. These include the flexibility of the programme and its ability to integrate into the student’s work-life balance, the support and development of self-efficacy amongst the cohort, the connection to every-day work tasks and the fact that it provides a second chance for students who had not opted for engineering the first time round. Other benefits include workplace mobility and recognition, something that is also reported as a benefit by research in the United Kingdom.

While the programme substantially met the needs of women in engineering leading to increased enrolments, the needs of Māori students was not adequately met. While the data is not conclusive due to small numbers, the factors that account for this include the impact of geographical area and low numbers of academically eligible students in employment. This requires further investigation and possibly a change in the model of intervention to address the needs of Māori students.

Keywords:

Degree apprenticeship, women in engineering, social mobility.