Exploring female-identifying student participation in robotics and post-secondary disciplinary interests.

Abstract

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), as a whole, has seen an in- crease in female participation within recent years. The same trend is not apparent within engineer- ing, with female-identifying student enrolment in post-secondary engineering programs remaining proportionally low. Current research shows little understanding between high school experiences and interest in engineering, especially within the female-identifying population. This study aims to explore female-identifying participants in high school robotics and their post-secondary plans. To fill the gap in research, a mixed-method survey with embedded design, employing Likert scales and short-answer questions, was distributed to female-identifying robotics participants in Ontario Independent Schools. The results of the paper suggest that participation in robotics does not necessarily denote an interest in post-secondary engineering but that the skills and support gathered from robotics are applicable to many related post-secondary disciplines of choice.

Keywords

• extracurricular activities
• engineering
• post-secondary enrolment
• stem perception
• stem gender gap