Abstract:

The student's choice of Engineering studies in Spain has been a gender stereotype. It has been a majority choice for men. Computer Engineering is an example of this, where in the 2009-10 academic year 19,822 students were enrolled in this degree in Spain, being of these only 2990 women, which represented a 15%. This paper examines the gender preferences of studies of computer engineering in the choice of the mode of final project at the University of Almeria since its introduction to the plan of 1999 to the present. The final projects began to defend in the year 2001-02, data are then analyzed in the 10 years it has been running these studies, and for the total of 209 students who have completed them. To completing these studies is necessary to present a final project. According to the regulations governing these curricula can be presented in 4 different modes: Technical Project, Technical Working, Research Monograph and Practice Company. The analyzed data shows that the percentage of women is the same as those enrolled nationwide, but unlike other degrees in engineering, where women prefer in a very significant mode of research monograph, in this degree it doesn’t exist bias in the choice of the mode. It has been observed that there is approximately the same value, 52% and 48% in choosing the form of monographic research for women and men respectively. In this paper we analyze the possible causes of this gender equality, in order to serve as an example to other engineering degrees.

Keywords:

Computer science, gender, engineering, final report.