Gender Participation and Academic Perception Towards Teaching and Learning of Engineering Mathematics Course

Purpose: An overview of the teaching and learning of engineering mathematics among some engineering faculty and students in some universities around the world has shown that only few females participate in the teaching and learning of engineering mathematics courses during their undergraduate and postgraduate studies. This phenomenon can be linked to some complex mathematical content found in some engineering-related courses that has been stereotyped for the male gender. This has resulted in a shortage of female manpower in engineering arising year after year in South Africa. In view of this, this study aimed to examine the rate of female participation in engineering mathematics in the department of electronics engineering. Methodology: This study was conducted with a sample of 16 engineering academics and students at a university in South Africa, using a mixed-methods approach. The process of data collection was done using an interview guide and a survey questionnaire. Findings: The result of the findings confirmed that out of 16 participants participated in the study, only 4 female participants adopted some engineering mathematics ideas into their teaching and learning of engineering-related courses, while 12 respondents who participated in the process of teaching and learning of engineering mathematics were males, who also benefitted with their knowledge of engineering mathematics. Implications: This study reports that if a low participation of female students in engineering mathematics is not addressed, the numbers of female engineers may drastically reduce and render a female underrepresentation in technical fields.