Abstract:

The attraction, education and retention of women in engineering and the built environment are paramount to the socio-economic development of South Africa. The Center for Research on Science, Engineering and Technology found that women represent fifty two percent of the African population estimated at a total of 800 000 million. In South Africa, female students constitute fifty three percent of all higher education enrolments and fifty eight percent of first degree graduation. At postgraduate level, however, fewer than half of all postgraduate enrolments and graduations are female. The number of female student doctoral enrolments and graduations are the lowest in the Natural Sciences and Engineering sectors. Women are under-represented in industry and in academia women represent less than thirty percent of the workforce as lecturers, senior lecturers and professors. The Women in Engineering and the Built Environment Programme at the University of Johannesburg was launched in 2006 to address the shortage of women in engineering and the built environment. The programme has three primary objectives, namely to attract women students to the faculty to continue their higher education in engineering or the built environment; to provide a support and developmental network for professional and academic women; and to increase the source of graduate women engineers to industry. The programme is considered a key community engagement project in the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment at the University of Johannesburg, and since its inception the number of registered women students has increased by one hundred and nine. This paper provides an overview of the strategic focus of the programme, and discusses its success and development to date. The authors close with a discussion on the envisaged future and activity of the programme.

Keywords:

women in engineering, women in built environment, technology, success.