Gaps between men And women in the Faculty of Engineering Towards Equity. Case University Intitution, Cartagena- Colombia. (#644)

Authors

Carrillo Landazabal, Martha Sofia

Haydar Martinez, Olga Esther

Mendoza Álvarez, Yaniris Janeth

Villadiego Rincon, Derlis Aminta

Abstract

The low participation of women in STEM fields is considered a very critical issue in Latin America and in the Colombian society In this paper we analyze the student population by gender of the engineering faculty of the Fundación Universitaria Tecnológico de Comfenalco. Four consecutive academic years comprised between 2019 - 2022 of the STEM programs in the engineering faculty at the Fundación Universitaria Tecnológico Comfenalco were analyzed, which is made up of fourteen (14) programs of which five (6) are engineering: Industrial, Civil, Process, Systems, Electronics, and Environmental. And eight (8) Technologies which are: Technology in Industrial Production, Technology in Occupational Safety and Hygiene, Technology in Quality Control, Technology in Industrial Environmental Management, Technology in Operation of Industrial Plants and Processes, Technology in Electronic Process Control and Technology in Software Development. It was also evidenced that the proportion of women studying for the first time shows a decreasing trend from 2019 to 2022 with an average value of 22.92% in engineering programs and 25.28% in the case of technologies. In general, women have lower access to engineering programs, especially in the last three years, with a slight recovery in 2022, but very slow. The effects of COVID-19 during the pandemic in 2020 and part of 2021 have shown a reduction in enrollment, enrollment and graduates. It is then a priority for the institution to increase the participation of women in programs with greater gender gaps, develop work from 2023 since it is considered important to work from basic education institutions with gender awareness and training activities in a cross-cutting manner. This in order to counteract traditional inventions and beliefs that may eventually hinder the application to study engineering science careers. Likewise, it is necessary to work in university institutions to open spaces for investment in the development of STEM competencies, through job training, and these will be reflected in a way that the city will be able to face the labor needs of the future, the possible projection of its industries and the competitiveness of women.