Women and Engineering in Nigeria:
Towards Improved Policy Initiatives andIncreased Female Participation

A. J. Badekale

ATPS WORKING PAPER SERIES No. 37

List of Tables

Table1: Distribution of pupils in Nigerian secondary schools, 1959, 1963 and 1970
Table2: Statistics of secondary education in Nigeria by sex
Table3: Entrants by sex in science and science-based courses 1984/85, Universityof Ibadan
Table4: Female students in different engineering fields in the Netherlands
Table5: Professional and intermediate level manpower in the fourth national
development plan
Table6: Number of candidates by sex in science subjects at the secondary school
certificate examination in 1980-81, 1983 and 1984
Table7: Entry by sex for science subjets and percentage passes from grades 1-6(1980-1984)
Table8: Total students by sex obtaining degrees from faculties of engineering andtechnology in all Nigerian universities 1983-1990
Table9: Pre 1983 total enrolment in faculties of engineering and technology
Table10: Student enrolment by sex in engineering and technology, 1979-1986
Table11: Enrolment by sex in engineering, Universityof Ife, 1983/84
Table12: Enrolment in engineering graduating clasess, University of Ife, 1984
Table13: Performance of graduating class in engineering, University of Ife 1983/84
Table14: Total new entrants in engineering education (1983-1993) in Nigeria
Table15: Total enrolment by sex in engineering education (1983-1993) in Nigeria
Table16: Total enrolment and graduation by level of course in engineering andtechnology, (1983-1990)
Table17: Total enrolment by sex in nine selected faculties of engineering andtechnology - first degree (1983-1990)
Table18: Student enrolment by sex in University of Lagos, 1984-1991
Table19: Student enrolment in different engineering fields, University of Lagos,
1989-1995
Table20: Total student enrolment by sex in different engineering fields in University ofLagos, 1992-1993
Table21: Participation rate by sex in different engineering fields University of Lagos,
1994-1995
Table22: Student enrolment in different engineering fields, 1992-1993 Year I,
Universityof Lagos

2
2
3
8
10
21
22
22
23
23
23
24
24
25
25
26
26
27
28
28
28
29

Table23: Student enrolment by sex in surveying, Universityof Lagos, 1995-1996
29
Table24: Student enrolment in Mechanical engineering, University of Lagos, 1995-1996 29
Table25: Engineering enrolment by sex at University of Lgos, 1995-199630
Table26: Academic staff in engeering and technology in all Nigerian Universities,
1980/81-1989/90
31
Table 27: Academic staff by sex in engineering and technology in Nigerian Universities,
1983-1988
31
Table 28: Academic staff in different engineering fields, University of Lagos, 1994-1996 31
Table 29: Academic staff by sex in engineering and technology, University of Ife,
1983-1990
32
Table 30: Academic staff by sex in engineering and technology, University of Ibadan,
1983-1990
32
Table 31: Academic staff by sex in engineering and technology, Ahmadu Bello University,
Zaria, 1983-1990
32
Table 32: Academic staff by sex in engineering and technology, Anambra State Universityof science and Technology, 1983-1990
33
Table 33: Academic staff by sex in engineering and technology, University of Nigeria,
Nsukka, 1983-1990
33
Table 34: Academic staff by sex in engineering and technology, University of Benin,
1983-1990
33
Table 35: Academic staff by sex in engineering and technology, University of Pot-Harcourt,
1983-1990
34
Table 36: Academic staff by sex in engineering and technology, Univesity of Lagos,
1983-1990
34
Table 37: Mean academic staff student ratio for federal universities faculty of engineeringin 1993-94
34
Table 38: Student -staff ratios in engineering faculties in Nigeria
35
Table 39: Female attrition at the University of Lagos
37
Table 40: Demographic characterists of professional engineer sample
42
Table 41: Differences between male and female respondents
43
Table 42: Perceptions of female and male engineers
43
Table 43: Perception of female and male engineers
44
Table 44: Entry and re-entry into engineering
47
Table 45: Pressure of family life
48
Table 46: Associate degrees conferred by US institutions, 1990-91
55
Table 47: Bachelor’s degrees conferred by US institutions 1990-91
55
Table 48: Masters degrees conferred by US institutions 1990-91
55
Table 49: Doctoral degrees conferred by US institutions 1990-91
55

Published by the African Technology Policy Studies Network, P.O. Box 10081, 00100 General Post
Office, Nairobi, Kenya.

© 2003 African Technology Policy Studies Network (ATPS)

PUBLISHED BY ATPS COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT
Printed by Newtec Concepts
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ISBN 9966-916-20-2

For more information on this series and ATPS, contact:
The Executive Director
The African Technology Policy Studies Network
3rd, Floor, The Chancery, Valley Road
P.O. Box 10081
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Tel: 254-20-2714092/168/498
Fax: 254-20-2714028
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Website: www.atpsnet.org

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

APWEN
DOI
EITB
GATE
GIST
NAWSTEM
NS/E
NTH
NUC
S&E
STM
SWE
WES
WISE
WISEST

Association of Professional Women Engineers in Nigeria
Department of Industry
Engineering Industry Training Board
Girls and Technology Education
Girls into Science and Technology
National Association of Women in Science, Technology and Mathematics
Natural Sciences and Engineering
Norwegian Institute of Technology
National University Commission
Scientific and Engineering
Science, Technology and Mathematics
Science and Women Engineering
Women’s Engineering Society
Women into Science and Engineering
Women in Scholarship, Engineering, Science and Technology

TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Tables
List of Abbreviations and Acronyms
Chapter One
Introduction and Background1

Chapter Two
Current State of Discussion

4

Chapter Three
Research Problem

17

Chapter Four
Results and Findings

21

Chapter Five
Case Studies of Developed Countries

53

Chapter Six
Discussion, Recommendations and Conclusion

60

References

63

ABOUT THE AFRICAN TECHNOLOGY POLICY STUDIES NETWORKThe African Technology Policy Studies Network (ATPS) is a multi-disciplinary network of researchers,
policymakers, actors in the private sector and other end users interested in generating, promoting
and strengthening innovative science and technology policies in Africa. With a regional secretariate
in Nairobi, the network operates through national chapters in 17 countries, with an expansion plan tocover the entire sub-Saharan Africa.
One of the objectives of the network is to disseminate research results to policy makers, legislators,
the organized private sector, civil society, mass media and farmers’ groups through publications,dialogue and advocacy. Among its range of publications are the Working Paper Series (WPS), Research
Paper Series (RPS), Special Paper Series (SPS) and the Technopolicy Briefs.
Papers published under the Working Paper Series (WPS) are those produced from the ATPS
small grants process or from regional projects. The WPS are not subjected to the strict
requirements of the RPS but this does not suggest that they do not have significant policy
or methodological contribution to make to the work of ATPS. The Board supports all efforts
aimed at improving the WPS, such as building skills that will make most of the ATPS
research outputs to be published under the RPS. Researchers are encouraged to produce
their final drafts in a publishable manuscript form that is shorter and easier to read.
ATPS is supported by a growing number of donors including the International Development ResearchCentre (IDRC), the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Rockefeller Foundation, the World Bank,
the OPEC Fund, Ford Foundation, Coca-Cola Eastern Africa, the African Development Bank, infoDev,
and the Royal Dutch Government.

Chapter One
Introduction and Background
Introduction
In Nigeria, the Government and individuals are increasingly realizing that technological development
is mandatory for the country’s overall development. However, criticism is being leveled against theway the objective is to be achieved.
Since independence in 1960 focus has been on mobilization of resources. All national development
plans have since reiterated the need to strengthen technical education in a bid to galvanize the nation
for development. While such attention is being focused on technological development, a shortage ofskilled manpower has been on the rise. A cursory examination of any of the National Plans shows the
predominant roles that the engineering profession is expected to play in the nation’s technologicaldevelopment (Oladapo: 1983).
Regardless of the effort made to increase the number of engineers in the past, shortages as
Ukaegbu (1985) found still tend to be as high as 50 percent. The shortages, remarkably, persist evenin universities and polytechnics charged with manpower production. Deficits also exist in intermediatetechnical manpower needed to support engineers. In fact, as found by Oladapo (1983), constraints
to technological development lie more with the intermediate category of technicians and craftsmen
than with the professional engineers. The graduate output of middle-level technicians from technicalcolleges in Nigeria has been found to be the same as that of engineers from universities andpolytechnics. Women constitute a small part of the total output from these institutions (Badekale,
1992; Agbeyisi, 1985). The total output provides a ratio of one engineer to one technician in the job
market. This economic manpower ratio is inadequate. In the developed countries, the economic
ratio is eight or ten technicians to one engineer. Such odd ratios for the specialized workforce needto compare favourably with those in the advanced nations. For example, women make up six percent
of all US scientists with college degrees in natural sciences and engineering. Policies to correct thissituation in Nigeria need to be instituted after a thorough examination of the circumstances that
produce this misfits, particularly with respect to participation of women. Such policy may indeed beapplicable across the African region as similar scenarios are found in sub-Saharan Africa.

Background
During introduction of formal education in Nigeria, efforts were made to ensure women did not attend
formal school. This was for several reasons: It was considered wasteful, as girls would eventually bemarried off to become housewives. Thus, women’s education was not favoured by parents. However,traditional forms of education were available to prepare women for future roles. Educational
1

WOMEN AND ENGINEERING IN N IGERIA: T OWARDS I MPROVED POLICY I NITIATIVES AND I NCREASED F EMALE PARTICIPATION
opportunities were not equally available to boys and girls. Most often, girls’ education was terminatedat the primary level. Thus very few girls proceeded to secondary school (see Table 1).
Table 1: Distribution of Pupils in Nigerian Secondary Schools, 1959, 1963 and 1970

Year
1959
1965
1970

Male
92,480151,807205,959

Female23,10660,072104,095

Total
115,586
211,879
310,054% Girls
19.99
28.35
33.57

Source: Alele-Williams (1988)

Table 2 further reflects the dismal picture: girls formed as low as 3.45 percent of the secondary
school population in the 1975/76 school year.
Table 2: Statistics of Secondary Education in Nigeria by Sex

Year
1975/76
1976/77
1977/78
1978/79
1979/80

Male
580,889
650,131852,558
796,577
1,009,781

Female20,76380,76861,090397,902543,564

Total
601,652
730,899
913,648
1,194,479
1,553,345% Girls
3.45
11.05
6.69
35.31
34.99

Source: Statistics of Education in Nigeria (1985) by Federal Ministry of Education.

A constant problem to the continued attendance of girls in school at this early period was withdrawal
for early marriages. This was common in the northern part of the country. However, various efforts
were geared towards ensuring active attendance of girls in school, even at higher levels of education.
In a Science Teachers Association of Nigeria’s publication (1992), it was reported that as far back as
the 1950s, the colonial government in began to seek ways of increasing the population of girls insecondary school. These came in form of scholarships and laws forbidding early marriages. Later,
the Federal Government introduced bursary allocations to assist both male and female students inhigher institutions.
With increasing attention being paid to the low participation of girls in education, more and more
women began to enroll in higher institutions. As reported by Stan (1992), while the ratio was about
1:40 in 1949 at the University College, Ibadan, the under-representation had reduced to 1:3 by the1970s. Despite this, the problem of gender bias remained in science, technology, and mathematics
courses.
It would be seen however that with various efforts made by appropriate authorities and professional
bodies, coupled with advancing economic development, remarkable, albeit slow, increases began

2

ATPS W ORKING PAPER N O. 37
to be recorded in female participation in science-related courses. Table 3 shows that technology
recorded the lowest number of women, with just 7.2 percent of the total entrants.
Table 3: Entrants by Sex in Science and Science-Based Courses 1984/85, University of Ibadan

Faculty
Male
Science282
Medicine
310
Agric. Forestry 234
Vet. Medicine
54
Technology
180

Female
124
145
41
8
14

Total
406
455
475
62
194

Source: University of Ibadan, Digest of Statistics.

3% Female
30.5
31.9
14.9
12.9
7.2

Chapter Two
Current State of Discussion
Overview of Factors Serving as Barriers to Women’s Participation in Scienceand Technology Education
It is adequate to argue that the under-representation of women in education generally, and in the wide
field of science and technology in particular, has been given deserved attention. As a result of thisworldwide attention, varied efforts, been made to find solutions to the inadequate number of womenin the field.
Giving impetus to these efforts was the placing of increased importance on science and technology
for national economic development. Also important was the influence of the growing commitment toequality of men and women.
Several causes had been identified for women’s low participation in science and technology
education. Harding (1987) classified some of the factors into three:i) The assumptions that society makes about males and females (their abilities, behaviours,roles, and aspirations);ii) The objectives and organization of education;iii) The practice of science, technology and mathematics.
These factors, she highlighted, are embedded in the political and cultural context of society.
Harding highlighted the study by Maccoby and Jacklin (1975), which concluded that males
display superior spatial skills (with the sex differential increasing with age of sample) and females
show greater verbal skills (with the sex differential increasing with age).
Further analysis of the studies earlier reviewed by Maccoby and Jacklin showed, however, that innone did the sex of the person contribute more than four percent to the total variance within thesample (Harding, 1987; Hyde, 1981). As Harding puts it, there is much more variation in spatial
abilities within one sex than between the sexes. Despite these findings, however, there persists
schools of thoughts that are still firmly based on “perceived” biological sex differences, genetically
pre-programmed, that promote boys’ effectiveness in mathematics and linguistics than girls andwhich consequently precipitate the subject specialisms.

Strategies for Recruiting Females into Engineering – The Case of otherCountries
In a study of 42 schools of engineering in the US, Sproule and Mathis (1976) found that successful
recruiting techniques employed by the schools made a difference. Such techniques included theappointment of a person or committee that is committed to and responsible for recruiting women, the4

ATPS W ORKING PAPER N O. 37
use of brochures, written appeal to women students, publicity through television announcements,
films and use of female engineering students. Such female engineering students serve as rolemodels to attract other female students still in high school.
Other techniques included outreach devices aimed particularly at high school counsellors who,
in turn, were expected to counsel their high school students on the suitability of engineering, orientation
programmes, and use of individual advisors (preferably women) for all female students enrolling inengineering. Successful techniques further included participation in the society of women engineers
to provide increased contact with other women engineers in the field, employment of female faculty
members, and involvement of women professionals as guest speakers to serve as role models. As
Gappa and Uehling (1979) affirmed, these techniques as well as the appropriation of recognition to
outstanding women students, were successfully adopted in the United States to bring about increased
participation of women in engineering.
In Canada’s University of Alberta, a task force on Women in Scholarship, Engineering, Scienceand Technology (WISEST) was established to take action aimed at increasing the representation of
women in science, engineering and technology. WISEST in turn formed the UAYs (pronounced UAWISE) to foster mutual support among women students and staff, while also assisting them to set andachieve goals. The UAYs was expected to provide a forum for role models to dispel the ingrained andsubconscious feeling among women that they do not belong in the fields.
Armour (1985) reported that the UAYs had been effective in providing a forum for communication
between female staff, graduate students and undergraduates. It was also able to organize
successful participation of high school female students in research groups located in faculties
of science and engineering. This and other programmes gave high school students opportunities
to interact with engineering, thereby forming positive feelings towards the profession. Other
activities conducted by WISEST’s UAYs included a conference and series of mini symposia in
which female scientists and engineers presented summaries of their work in intelligible terms.
Armour reported that the programmes received enthusiastic responses.
Oost (1988) reported the Project Technika-10, which was started in the Netherlands in1985 to stimulate girls’ interest and knowledge in technology before the age of adolescence.
Research had ascertained that young girls aged between 10 and 12 have the same affinity andinterest in technical features as boys, but girls on the other hand have less experience andknowledge. Their limited experience stems from the fact that girls are provided with games
and items which do not stimulate technological insights. Technika-10 organized technicalcourses in 10 different towns in the field of informatics, electronics, chemistry, etc. for young
girls. These were done with co-operation from technical colleges and technical universities.
The courses were for girls only and the supervisors who were women served as role models. It
was expected that girls who attended the course would probably choose to study in naturalscience and technology.
The United Kingdom also pays special attention to girls and technology and has set up
several bodies like the Engineering Council and the Equal Opportunities Commission which inturn initiated the Women Into Science and Engineering (WISE) campaign. Various types ofactivities were organized including the WISE-bus that toured the country and held a national
conference. Since the 1970s, the Engineering Industry Training Board has recruited 16-year
5

WOMEN AND ENGINEERING IN N IGERIA: T OWARDS I MPROVED POLICY I NITIATIVES AND I NCREASED F EMALE PARTICIPATION
old girls into technical training courses and began to woo the interest of girls to careers inengineering (Harding, 1986; Newton, 1981).
In 1979, the United Kingdom introduced the Insight Courses during which students are invited
to visit technical colleges and universities in order to practice engineering for themselves. Oost
(1988) noted that such courses had been attended by 400 - 600 girls selected from thousands ofapplicants. For the duration of the one week course, the female participants were supervisedby female engineers, and they were also taken on visits to industries. Similar mini-courses as
Oost reported had been organized in Norway and Sweden.
In Norway, a quota system whereby girls are given extra points because of their sex is
implemented to encourage more girls to opt for the course. Whyte (1984) reported that in
Sweden and the United Kingdom, special schemes which brought women engineers into theclassroom were introduced. These were the Dutch apprenticeship project and the Engineering
Industries Training Board programmes, respectively.
In most developed countries like Norway, Finland and the United Kingdom, national councils
of engineering have been very active in making available information materials to relevanttarget groups. The target of such information is the change of existing attitude towards
participation of women in engineering.
Other measures have been taken to create a conducive atmosphere for the entry of women intoscience and technology-related professions. Sjberg and Imsen (1991) reported the scene in Norway,
and the advanced stage to which equality between the sexes had reached. He however reported thatthe impact in science and engineering is still extremely low. In the country, a considerable fraction of
the adult labour force (40-45 percent) is female. This is remarkable. To remove obstacles to female
participation, legislation against sex discrimination was enacted, while textbooks have to pass thesex discrimination test before being approved officially. Within the educational system, equality
between the sexes was also considered a central issue.

Educational Impediments to Female Participation in Science and Engineering
Blackstone and Weinreich-Haste (1980) briefly reviewed the topic. They found that girls tend to set
their sights lower, take easier courses in further education, take fewer A-levels for higher educationand thus are less likely to go on to higher education.
They also found that girls attribute their success to luck and external factors and attribute theirfailure to lack of ability. Boys on the other hand, tend to be opposite, and attribute successes tothemselves.
Newton (1981) reported that girls were found considerably behind boys in having experience inphysics and crafts and technical subjects (two background areas important for entry into engineering).
The reasons found for girls under-participation in physics, wood work, metal work and technicaldrawing included their being prevented from taking the courses, lack of or shortage of facilities andstaff, social pressure and absence of traditional career guidance. Newton also found that girls
reported that they were not exposed to engineering careers until it was too late for them to choose theappropriate subjects necessary for engineering studies.
Stan (1992) noted that in the United States, research indicated that girls have poor attitude towards
science, thereby enrolling less often in it while also demonstrating lower achievement levels in the6

ATPS W ORKING PAPER N O. 37
subject. Stan thus highlighted the view of Skolnick et al, (1982) that since poor attitudes relate directly
to lower achievement levels and to lower enrolment in science courses, negative attitudes must be
ameliorated in girls and women in science and technology.

Masculinity and Feminization of Engineering
A cursory glance at the different engineering fields all over the world and in Nigeria particularly revealthat the fields are dominated by men and the profession regarded as a male domain. As Walton(1986) reported, societies do not expect women to become scientists and those that do are seen to
step “out of line”. As a response to this restriction, women are under-represented in the fields andover-represented in what can be termed the service-sector. The jobs include teaching, nursing,sales and advertising.
The explanations given for this dominance by men have been speculative. As Breakwell (1980)
explained, there are undoubtedly overt institutional and organizational barriers which function to
restrain access or involvement of women.
Nieva and Gutek (1981) presented four models explaining women’s lower status in organizations.
Among the four, the structural-institutional model highlighted the positive impact of role models andcompany policies on careers of women. Another school of thought proposes that there are biologicalsex differences, genetically pre-programmed which promote boys’ effectiveness in mathematics
and linguistics and consequently precipitate the subject specialisms. The subject specialisms
favour the presence and entry of men into engineering and other science fields.
Newton (1981) wrote on the traditional image of engineering as being heavy, dirty and masculine,
while a woman who would succeed in the field had to be tough, aggressive and masculine. If she
does not possess these characteristics, then she must work in menial jobs requiring manual dexterityand “nimble fingers”. Nieva and Gutek (1981) identified this as the sex role model.
The masculinity surrounding the image of engineering over the years remained very powerful andin turn reinforced the belief that the field is unsuitable for none other than men. Thus, women until
recently formed a small percentage of total enrolments in university engineering departments all over
the world. Linden et al (1985) and Sheridan (1984) affirmed that in the United States, the number ofwomen who matriculate into and graduate from engineering faculties have increased over the past
decade, while women form about 20 percent of beginning engineering students. They opined that
there had also been changes in attitudes towards the roles of women and the probable changes inwomen’s own perception of their capabilities. It must be observed rather enthusiastically that though
there are increases in women enrolment, much is still needed to improve the lot of women.
Several developments have brought about this shift in the traditional view of science and engineering
as perceived by men and women. As highlighted by Newton (1986), less emphasis is now placed on
the “older heavy type of engineering”, while talk is more and more about computers, printed circuitboards and electronics. Furthermore, the roles of women and men have been changing, withwomen’s liberation and empowerment, movements and changes in economic conditions altering
the division of labour and raising questions otherwise left unasked in the past. Particularly, concern
has been intense about increases in the number of women in technology and how their access to thefields will be made easier.
7

WOMEN AND ENGINEERING IN N IGERIA: T OWARDS I MPROVED POLICY I NITIATIVES AND I NCREASED F EMALE PARTICIPATION

Distribution of Women over Different Engineering Fields in Other Countries
Van Oost (1988) presented data on the distribution of women in engineering fields in European
countries. Her work confirmed that women engineering students do not participate equally in the
different fields of engineering. Data was compiled for Norway, Portugal, The Netherlands, and
Hungary.
From the study, there was a “striking similarity in the pattern of distribution over the fields ofengineering”. The participation of women was found to be at equal level with that of men in chemicalengineering, and architecture. There was about an equal number of women as men in these two
fields while in some countries, women formed the majority. Oost (1988) found that mechanical andelectrical engineering did not seem to attract girls in any of the countries. She thus recommended
special activities in order to recruit girls into mechanical and electrical engineering courses.
Writing earlier, Everts and Van Oost (1986) presented the 1982 figures for the Netherlands (Table
4).
Table 4: Female Students in Different Engineering Fields in The Netherlands, 1982

Field
Applied Mathematics
Civil Engineering
Architecture
Electronic Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Chemical Engineering
Physical Engineering

N
115
47
489
21
26
121
36

%
10.8
2.6
14.8
0.7
1.1
7.5
2.5

Source: Everts and Van Oost (1986) p. 306 (from Statistical Year Book of Education, 1984)

The analysis revealed that three fields, applied mathematics, architecture and chemical engineering
attracted the highest percentage of women. Other fields like electronic engineering, mechanicalengineering and civil engineering were not attractive to women at all, with only one or two percent of
the students being female. Explaining the trend for Netherlands, Everts and Oost referred to thestatistical study on higher education in Europe (1970 – 1995), which rated the Dutch percentage ofwomen in technological sciences as the second lowest of all European and North American
percentages. This was in spite of widely held belief by the Dutch that Holland was a liberal andemancipated country.

Development Plan Projections for Engineering Manpower in Nigeria
The Federal Government in various National Development Plans placed emphasis on engineering
manpower training, albeit without specific emphasis on gender. The various National Development
Plans were for the following periods: First (1962-1968), Second (1970-1974), Third (1975-1980),
and Fourth (1980-1985), and were released by the Federal Ministry of Information. As highlighted by
the National University Commission (NUC, 1992), the First Plan (1962-1968) did not contain any
8

ATPS W ORKING PAPER N O. 37
projections for the number of engineers required by the economy. Neither was there any proclamationon the number of other engineering cadres like technologists and technicians, craftsman and artisans.
However, as adduced by the NUC (1992), it was obvious from a recommendation of the Ashby
Commission Report on Higher Education that the government was committed to achieving a higher
rate of production of engineering manpower for accelerated development of the country. However,during this period, of the number of graduating students, which was put at 356, an attrition rate of 44
percent was observed. Similarly, during the 1968/69 period, only 481 out of 1,011 students graduated,
representing an attrition rate of 52 percent.
The Second National Development Plan (1970-1974) focused on the projected increases in the
production of supportive personnel. Along with this development came the recommendation for thecorrection of the lopsidedness of the admission process which favoured the arts and humanities.
This was a ratio of 50:50 recommended by the National Manpower Board for admission into thescience-based and the arts and humanities-based disciplines. In addition, the plan prescribed an
additional 7,000 places to be allocated to the various disciplines.
The Third National Development Plan (1975-1980) made more specific arrangements for
additional universities as well as the number of engineering personnel required by the economy. It
specified a massive increase in total student enrolment from 23,000 in 1975 to 53,000 by 1980 on aratio of 60:40 for science-arts based courses (NUC, 1992). This plan thus brought about theestablishment of the “Second Generation Universities”. The number of civil and structural engineers
was placed at 3,800.
The universities, as planned, were expected to increase the total student enrolment from 57,000
to 109,000 by the end of 1985. For engineering, enrolment figures were to be increased from 3,981
by the end of the 3rd Plan to 9,800 in the 4th Plan. However, 1985 witnessed a student population
explosion, which increased actual enrolment to 11,272.
Figures for the Fifth National Development Plan (1986-1991) were in turn realistic, although as
explained by the NUC (1992), the figures available were mechanical engineers at 1,400 and electricalengineers at 1,300, representing a total of 6,500. In addition, the Plan envisaged that by the end of thePlan period in 1980, there would be a total estimate of 12,250 engineers. As highlighted by NUC(1992), these figures excluded other engineering fields like agriculture, chemical, petroleum, mining
and marine engineering and possibly surveying. A major highlight of this period is the deficit observedin the actual production of engineers. The actual output of engineers for the period was 3,008. This
represented a deficit in the projection by 9,242 engineers.
The Fourth National Development Plan (1980-1985), however, still called for an increase in the
production of engineering manpower. Thus several policy instruments and institutions emerged
during this period, such as the establishment of universities of technology, and state universities,
among others. The Plan projected additional requirements to boost existing stock of engineers forthe economy. This is as replicated in Table 5 (culled from NUC, 1992 p. 156).

9

WOMEN AND ENGINEERING IN N IGERIA: T OWARDS I MPROVED POLICY I NITIATIVES AND I NCREASED F EMALE PARTICIPATION
It is safe to agree with the conclusion of NUC (1992 p. 152) that the Plans were initially unrealistic
in their projections of enrolment figures, until the third Plan.
Table 5: Professional and Intermediate Level Manpower in the Fourth National Development Plan
Category of
Manpower

Estimated Current Requirement
Stock 1980
for Meeting
Existing Shortage

Requirement for
Meeting 1985
Employment/
Population target

Requirement for
Meeting Wastage
1980-1985

Additional
Requirements
1980-1985

Civil andstructural
engineers*
Electrical andelectronics
engineers
Agricultural
engineers
Total

4,000

4,700

6,000

310

7,010

3,500

2,070

5,000

270

3,840

350

260

600

30

540

7,850

7,030

11,600610

11,390Civil engineering 9,800
technicians
Electrical/
10,600electronics
engineering
technicians
Total
20,4005,950

12,300

760

9,210

8,060

13,400825

11,78514,01025,8001,585

20,995* Professional (engineering) level manpower** Intermediate level manpower
Source: Culled from NUC (1992)

The Fifth Plan in turn witnessed a kind of catastrophe in the country’s attempt to increase thepopulation of its technical manpower with the adverse effect of the “brain drain” syndrome. Many
professionals, including engineers, left the country in search of better lucrative jobs in other countries.
Moreover, those that couldn’t leave the country moved from the academic to the business world.
Thus the lecturers left in universities were too few to produce the urgently needed technical manpower.

Science and Technology Policy Initiatives in Nigeria
The National Policy of Education introduced in 1979 and revised in 1981 initiated, among otherchanges, the 6-3-3-4 system of education in the country. Three of the policy’s appropriate goals fortechnological education are:•Diversify its curriculum to cater for the differences in talents, opportunities and roles possessedby or open to students after their secondary school course;•
Equip students to live effectively in our modern age of science and technology; and10

ATPS W ORKING PAPER N O. 37•

Raise a generation of people who can think for themselves, respect the views and feelingsof others, respect the dignity of labour and appreciate those values and live as good citizens.
The policy tried to improve aspects related to the theme of this study. Section 5, Sub-section 38(ix)states: “In the present state of our development and in view of the rapidly expanding manpower
requirements for qualified professionals, the Federal Government will look into the restrictive practices
prevailing in some professions with a view to removing or relaxing such restrictions provided standards
are not lowered”.
In order to attract more people to the science-based courses, the policy further fixed the ratio of
science to liberal arts students at 60:40 in order to attract students into the faculties of science andtechnology. It is, however, difficult to get enough students (both male and female) to meet this ratio as
both the primary and secondary schools’ curricula have not equipped students for higher studies inscience and technology.
Section 10, Sub-section (ii) of the National Policy on Education (1981) is explicit on the
Government’s efforts to rectify apparent ignorance of many young people about career prospects. It
states:In view of the apparent ignorance of many young people about career prospects, and in view of personality
mal-adjustment among school children, career officers, and counsellors will be appointed in post primary
institutions...

As Oladapo (1988) states, the National Policy on Science and Technology was an attempt takenby the Federal Government at evolving a co-ordinated science and technology policy for the country.
Organs such as the National Council for Science and Technology, its research councils, the National
Science and Technology Development Agency, and the Ministry of Science and Technology, were
established.
The objectives of the National Policy on Science and Technology (1986) are to ensure that thestated national objectives are met through the application of science and technology. To achievethis, it aims at:i) increasing public awareness in science and technology and their vital role in national
development and well being;ii) directing science and technology efforts along identified national goals;iii) promoting the translation of science and technology results into actual goods and services;iv) creating, increasing and maintaining an endogenous science and technology base throughresearch and development;v) motivating creative output in science and technology;vi) increasing and strengthening theoretical and practical scientific base in the society; andvii) increasing and strengthening the technological base of the nation.

Proposed Strategies for Implementation
Proposed strategies for assured manpower, among others, included the following:•
Enforcing strictly the 60:40 ratio of science-based disciplines to the humanities in student
enrolment at universities, with a target ratio of 70:30 by the year 1988.
11

WOMEN AND ENGINEERING IN N IGERIA: T OWARDS I MPROVED POLICY I NITIATIVES AND I NCREASED F EMALE PARTICIPATION••

Initiating and supporting continuing education programmes aimed at specific training for
top-level scientists, practising science teachers, engineers and technologists.
Initiating and encouraging programmes for the training of scientific and technical personnel
on a scale adequate for the fulfilment of the country’s needs in education, agriculture,
medicine, engineering, industry, defense, etc.

To achieve this, the policy has another objective of increasing public awareness in science andtechnology.
It is noteworthy that none of these provisions stressed any activity to ensure the participation of
women in the fields. The urge to involve women in national development was actually given theimpetus by the declaration of the United Nations, which dedicated 1975-85 as the Decade for Women.
This focused debate during the 1986 conference held in the country. At the conference, women’sissues were discussed. The result of the conference was the Blueprint on Women Education in
Nigeria. Thus for sure, in that year, the country was dedicated to women education.
Realising the enormity of the problems in the educational system, the National Council on
Education directed both Federal and State ministries of education to comply with therecommendations of the Task Force on Guidance and Counselling, which it had ratified. According
to Onanuga (1991), some aspects of the emphasis are that:•
Pre-vocational subjects should be introduced at the secondary school level as elective.
•
Career guidance and counselling should be continuously carried out at both secondary andtertiary levels to prepare students for the world of work.
•
Girls should be encouraged to pursue courses in science and technology by granting goodcandidates scholarships from their junior secondary through tertiary education.
•
Girls should be protected from sexual harassment at all levels of development.
•
Education for all (boys, girls, illiterate or partially literate adults, the nomads, etc.) is to beaccomplished by the year 2000.
•
Federal scholarship be more generously given to candidates interested in pursuing courses
in guidance and counselling in order to train such greatly needed personnel.
The Federal Ministry of Education has since developed tests, which were made available for school
counsellors’ use. Some of these included Technical and Vocational Interest Scale for Junior
Secondary School; Students’ Attitude to School and Parental Expectations; and Social Adjustment
Guide.
In 1986, the Federal Ministry of Education created the Women Education Branch with the objectivesof promoting public awareness of the need to educate women, providing more adequate opportunities
for women and encouraging female participation in social and economic activities in the country.
The unit has since launched a massive campaign, which in turn had “reflected glaringly on enrolment”.
Thus Kano State, which had a 29 percent female enrolment, accorded 45 percent female enrolment
in 1988, while that of Kaduna, which was previously 35 percent, also rose to 50 percent. The
awareness campaign is launched periodically in all states of the country. A blueprint on Women
Education in Nigeria was also printed to guide the ministry in its activities.

12

ATPS W ORKING PAPER N O. 37
In the country, national and professional bodies, consisting of women only, began to be organized.
An important achievement was the establishment of the National Association of Women in Science,
Technology and Mathematics (NAWSTEM).
Vocational programmes under the auspices of the “Better Life for Rural Women” were introduced.
The Ministry of Education also established a Women Education Model Centre and Women Education
Units in each state. Working in collaboration with the Nigerian Educational Research andDevelopment Council, the Women Education Branch effected the development of a curriculum for
Women Education in the country. Other activities include the publication of articles and posters
targeted towards attracting women to education, and re-orientating the attitude of the general society
towards education of women. A major aim of the ministry thus was the promotion of the education ofgirls in the field of science, technology, and mathematics. Stringent measures were also taken by
State governments with the enactment of policies to discourage the withdrawal of girls from school.
In 1987, a national workshop on promoting science, technology and mathematics (STM) among
girls and women in Nigeria was organized. In order to motivate girls further to study STM oriented
subjects, scholarships were awarded by the Federal Ministry of Education to senior secondary school
girls who excelled in STM subjects in the JSS examination. Sixty-six girls benefited from the scheme
which was for one year, but which could be renewed if the recipient took the best position thefollowing year.
In addition to this, five female students from Nigeria participated in the STM clinic which took
place at Achimota School in Accra, Ghana, from 26th August to 9th September, 1989. The five girls
were the recipients of the Women Education (NAWSTEM) Scholarships for STM Scholars. A followup of this workshop was organized in Nigeria. This was the one-day STM road show clinic organizedby the Women Education Branch for 200 secondary school girls in every state of the federation,
including Abuja, from October to December, 1989. This included a series of activities geared towards
motivating girls to take up STM-oriented professions. Female professionals in the STM-oriented
fields gave career talks to participants.

Feminization Rate of Engineering Education in Developed Countries
Reliable sources of evidence was extremely difficult. So also was the literature to review even when
visits were paid to some of the countries.
Van Oost (1988) turned out to be a very useful source of information on some developed European
countries. The picture painted by the statistics confirmed the under-representation of women inengineering in the countries. However, it also revealed a growth in the 15 years preceding the report.
The United Kingdom was reported to have achieved an approximate increase of about 10 percent in1986. The increases in UK and The Netherlands were modest compared to those of other countries.
Explaining these increases, Van Oost took into cognizance the stimulating activities andprogrammes undertaken in the countries, particularly in the United Kingdom. In Norway, a positive
discrimination policy of universities like the Norwegian Institute of Technology (NTH) in Trondheim
made tremendous impact on enrolment of women.
However, Van Oost (1986) reported a rapid growth followed by a decline in women participation
rate in Denmark and the United States. For the United States, Oost found that most of the industrial
13

WOMEN AND ENGINEERING IN N IGERIA: T OWARDS I MPROVED POLICY I NITIATIVES AND I NCREASED F EMALE PARTICIPATION
resources for attracting girls to engineering were cut down for the greater part of the years underreview. This was as a result of the shift of attention to the case of minorities in the country.

Feminization Rate Among Engineering Lecturers and Availability of Role
Models
The rate of feminization among engineering lecturers pose a lot of concern. It has been highlighted
that this rate is even lower than the rate of feminization among students (Van Oost, 1988). In essence,
this means that there are very few or no role models for female engineering students. Consequently,
female students are confronted with only men. Usually, men, in one way or the other, “scare” girls
away from the field.
The importance of female role models to women’s participation in their respective professions
has been stressed by many. The availability of a large number of female professionals in society
paves the way for new entrants into the field as they stimulate girls and give them attention in times ofdifficulty. It is difficult for girls to receive sympathetic attention from male lecturers. However, there arediffering views.
Armour (1985) reported that although women are under-represented on the academic staff of thefaculties of science and engineering at the University of Alberta, female undergraduates in the facilities
do as well as or better than their male counterparts. The gradepoint average of females in the facultyof engineering was consistently higher than that of males. She however reported that the Task Forceon Women in Scholarship, Engineering, Science and Technology (WISEST) established at theuniversity had through another body UAYs provided role models, among other incentives to help
students.
In the country, the Association of Professional Women Engineers in Nigeria (APWEN) is presently
laying much importance to the provision of role models in schools through extension of student
membership to female students.

Attrition and Wastage among Female Engineering Students
Everts and Oost (1986) pointed out that efforts to encourage women into engineering should not be
considered as over with the women’s enrolment in technical universities. Investigations of various
studies have revealed wastage and educational inefficiency through high dropout rates among women
who do not complete their courses. Several reasons were posited for this.
For Netherlands, Everts and Oost (1986) reported that the differences in men’s and women’s
attrition rates decreased to two or three percent in 1981. However, for the same year, for technology,
the difference was still up to 11 percent.
In their longitudinal study on women and men undergraduates who persisted successfully in theirengineering programmes (Persisters) and others who left engineering (Non-Persisters), Linden et al(1985) found that men and women differ in their persistence rates. They found that the factors thatbest predicted persistence were “somewhat different”. Women had slightly higher SAT scores and
GPAs and reported lower self-perceived abilities than men. They found also that women (67 percent)are almost as likely as men (73 percent) to persist in engineering studies.
Oost (1991) reported that researches among engineering students indicated similar factors for
dropping out of school as found in science education at secondary level. In her study, different
14

ATPS W ORKING PAPER N O. 37
reasons were found to explain the attrition rates between male and female engineering students.
The attrition rate for male students caused by academic performance was five times higher than thatof female students. However, females stopped their engineering course more often because of therestrictive curriculum and unfriendly atmosphere of the university. She also found that to ensure
females retention at school, it was important that items like social aspects, engineers’ social
responsibility, and environmental subjects are a substantive part of engineering education.

Experiences of Female Students in Male-Dominated Classes
Whyte (1986:25) with others paid several visits to eight schools and found, among other things, that“the sexes constantly divide and are divided at school; boys dominate classroom discussion, boys
insist on more of the teachers’ attention; boys and teachers ‘masculinize’ the lesson content inscience and crafts; boys ‘hog’ resources; girls ‘fetch and carry for the boys’... (p.25)”.
Alting et al (1985) in their study of girls and women in science and technology found that on the firstday of STE school, some girls were extremely nervous, shivered, felt very tense, were anxious or had
headaches. The girls studied attributed these reactions to their conspicuous position as “the only girlin a boys’ group”. They, however, found that the presence of other girls and reassurance from boys
they had previously known, and who also were attending the STE, reduced their anxiety.
Alting et al (1985) also found that some of the teachers in the male-dominated classes do notknow how to react towards girls in their classes. They, however, found teachers’ reaction inconsistent
towards both boys and girls. While some teachers were found to be antagonistic and biased towards
girls and their work, others were indifferent to them. Some teachers also thought that the presence ofgirls has positive effects on the behaviour of boys while some thought intimate relations between boys
and girls could negatively affect the school atmosphere. Girls in the study also reported that teachers
had authoritarian style which they did not like.
The study by Parker, Rennie and Hutchinson (1985) emphasized that teachers’ attitudes andbehaviours have a critical influence on the attitude of their pupils. In-service programmes conducted
on ten teachers (five males and five females) and questions asked through pre and post treatment
questionnaires revealed that the experimental teachers became more conscious of their attempt to“be fair to both sexes” in time and attention given. The study thus revealed the necessity for teachers
to change their attitudes and behaviour towards females in their classes.
Staberg (1985) observed science lessons in grades 3, 7, and 9, and found that girls generally
participate in fewer interactions than boys. Girls who made up about one half of the class got only one
third of the attention. She also observed that girls seemed content with this as they made very little
effort to participate nor adopted attention seeking strategies. Boys dominated the pupil-initiatedinteractions. They talked more and also dominated physically by being more active than girls.
Interviews have also revealed that girls complain about unpleasant behaviour of teachers. However,some of the girls thought that in most cases teachers’ behaviour was unintentional, but was due tomale teachers’ limited knowledge on how to handle girls.
Others revealed the following as characteristics of mixed classes where girls are a minority:•
boys dominate classroom discussions;•boys insist on more of teachers’ attention than girls;
15

WOMEN AND ENGINEERING IN N IGERIA: T OWARDS I MPROVED POLICY I NITIATIVES AND I NCREASED F EMALE PARTICIPATION••

boys and male teachers “masculinize” lesson content in science and crafts; andboys “hog” resources.

Female Engineers and Engineering Jobs
Generally, the employment of women workers is unstable as a result of various factors which can be
attributed to the organizational stereotypes or to the women themselves. It is still stated statisticallythat women employment in industries is only 10 or 15 percent. The absence of these would-be“leaders” could discourage young girls from being attracted to male-dominated professions.
Newton (1986) highlighted that engineering as a profession was changing with less emphasis
placed on the older heavy type of engineering. In its place are computers and chips, printed circuitboards and electronics. However, it was revealed that women in engineering are not dramaticallydifferent from women in the more traditionally feminine fields, or from their male engineer counterparts.
Kanter (1976) reported research on female workers which showed that women did not seek orfind career success for several factors. One was that women learnt that high achievement meant aloss of their traditional femininity. Femininity, which was preferred, was thus preserved whileachievement was sacrificed. The study conducted by Kanter however revealed that there were noserious sex-related individual differences between women and men’s behaviour at work. She found,along other things, that lack of opportunity to succeed and not a personality style that shuns success,is what separates the women from men.
Other research revealed that the corporate world requires its participants to be willing to relocate,to surpass rivals without hesitation and even use other people to advance in status. Highly mobile
groups quickly become more involved with their task, avoid irrelevant chatter, and get on.
As reported by Kanter (1976), studies point out that people who have worked for a woman boss aremuch likely to be favourably disposed towards female leaders.

16Chapter Three
Research Problem
In Nigeria, there is a shortage of skilled manpower at all levels. Aggravating this problem is the low
rate of participation of women in engineering and technology. As a result, the Nigerian society isdeprived of almost half of its human resources, greatly needed to solve its problems. For unknown orrather unempirically tested reasons, women are disadvantaged in many areas of life and particularly
in engineering and technology. Some studies have revealed that engineering training remains thehigher education sector with the lowest female participation rate despite efforts to attract them.
(Michel, UNESCO 1988). These studies also show that there are contradictions which remain
intolerable, thereby making engineering profession “a male quasi-monopoly”.
Experts who met in Paris in 1986 for the Consultative Meeting on Women in Engineering andTechnological Education and Training concluded, among other things, that for most countries,
Nigeria included, there is only a small percentage of women in engineering and technologicaloccupations. They identified, among many other problems, lack of statistics and research work on
women in engineering. They thus recommended among others that more studies should be carriedout at the national level on the participation of women in engineering, on the role of engineering
educators and on reasons for the differences between male and female participation in the field.
In the recent past, efforts towards rectification of this imbalance have been preliminary and limited
mostly to establishing the correct state or index of female participation in the field. It is thus imperativethat action be set in motion for in-depth assessment of strategies for increasing female participationin specific fields of engineering and towards generalised initiation of policy to achieve the growth.
Thus, the present study aims to present solid empirical evidence on factors for and the status quo of
female participation in engineering in Nigeria.

Research Objectives
The general objective of this study is to present an accurate picture of female participation inengineering in Nigeria, showing important constraints that discourage women’s participation, and to
propose appropriate recommendations. In order to achieve this, the following specific objectives
were focused upon:(a) generate information and statistics on the rate of feminization of engineering in Nigeria, andon the feminization rate in engineering disciplines;(b) identify factors in education and training which act as obstacles to the attraction of girls andwomen to engineering;17

WOMEN AND ENGINEERING IN N IGERIA: T OWARDS I MPROVED POLICY I NITIATIVES AND I NCREASED F EMALE PARTICIPATION(c) identify, through examination of the experience of women and men in engineering,
employment conditions which discourage women from taking up or continuing with careers
in engineering;(d) investigate the role of engineering educators in the under-representation of women in thefield;(e) investigate, if there exist, the reasons for differences in female participation in the various
engineering fields.

Research Questions
Answers were sought empirically to the following questions in the study:(a) Has there been an increase in the participation rate of females in engineering between
1983 and 1993?
(b) What positive steps are being taken by professional engineering institutions towards ensuring
increased participation of women in the field?
(c) What is the dropout rate of the women in engineering education or do all female students
enrolled in engineering persist successfully till they graduate?
(d) How do these female engineering students experience their studies?
(e) What steps are being taken by large organizations with regard to attracting women into
engineering?
(f) What are the experiences of the female engineers on the job?
(g) Is there a strong career progression for women in engineering?
(h) How do girls and women perceive remuneration or direct benefits of the different engineering
specialists compared with those of other professions?
(i) How will this perception influence their choice of engineering profession or careers?
(j) Is there available in Nigeria any continuing and re-entry education programme for women inengineering?
(k) What is the percentage of women in engineering compared with the general participation of
women in the labour market?
(l) Is there a similarity in the pattern of distribution of females in engineering in Nigeria andthose in developed and developing countries?
(m) What is the rate of feminization among engineering educators who serve as role models tostudents?
(n) What factors (e.g. remuneration, work qualities, etc.) serve as correlates of women’s choiceof engineering as their career or profession?
(o) Can technology policy initiatives in Nigeria be regarded as gender neutral or female friendly?
(p) What suggestions can females in engineering contribute towards the initiation of better
policies?

18

ATPS W ORKING PAPER N O. 37

Methodology
Sample Selection
In order to achieve as much validity as feasible, the samples for the study were selected from females
and males in Nigeria. The samples were stratified into four groups and comprised:(a) 120 female and 120 male engineering students in nine universities with engineering facilities.
These were representative of different areas of specialization in Nigerian institutions.
(b) 40 female and 40 male engineers already employed on the job. The male engineers were
expected to give a comparable viewpoint.
(c) 40 lecturers (including females) in university departments of engineering.
(d) 20 technical and project managers in 10 industries.
The study was an indepth field survey. The country was zoned into three sections, South, Middle
and North in order to obtain geographical representation. The selection of samples from the areas
was by stratified random sampling. Nine universities were selected from those with engineering
faculties in such a way as to include State universities, Federal universities and the three-generation
universities. These were representatives of the almost 20 engineering faculties in Nigeria.
The definition of the sample size was not ambitious in the face of a dearth in data on female
engineers available in Nigeria. To provide answers to some questions, the technical and project
managers in 10 work organizations were involved, and were asked to participate in the interview or
the completion of the questionnaire.
It was expected that the five sources of information and samples would eliminate the placementof limitation on results to be obtained from the study. The size of the sample would not also preclude
wide generalizations. To ensure this, several other characteristics determined male and female
engineers sampled. These were:(a) Graduate engineer samples should have been on the job for at least three years to be able
to proffer intelligent comments about their career prospects. Earlier studies had affirmedthat people would establish patterns for a career in their first two years of employment.
(b) Student samples must have spent at least one full academic session studying engineeringcourses.
(c) Technical managers must have supervised female engineers for more than a year.
(d) Engineering lecturers must have had interactions with female engineering students.
Instruments for the study
Since the study adopted the quantitative and qualitative approaches, a combination of two means ofgathering data was involved. In-depth interviews were conducted with the selected samples. This
was necessary to avoid restricting responses of samples. The second method of data generation
was the use of questionnaires for executives who had no time for, nor granted oral interviews with theresearcher.
Questions asked revolved around the following factors: Emotional, cultural, risk taking, desire forgender equality, remuneration, experience, self concepts, coping strategies, government policies as
it affects engineering, female preference of the different engineering fields, role of engineering teachers,
influence of role models.
19

WOMEN AND ENGINEERING IN N IGERIA: T OWARDS I MPROVED POLICY I NITIATIVES AND I NCREASED F EMALE PARTICIPATIONThe study further drew its data from reliable statistics generated by the National Universities
Commission (NUC). These were supplemented with statistics obtained, where possible, from few
universities. NUC is the only body in charge of university education in Nigeria and the data it generates
are considered reliable.
The principal researcher and the field assistants also visited the universities in order to seek
additional information on individual university policy on attracting females to engineering.

20

Chapter Four
Results and Findings
To say that the Nigerian educational system lacks data is understating the problem. Despite the factthat there are statistics units in the universities and other bodies related to education at the tertiarylevel, the data-collection method leaves a lot of room for improvement and updating. As a result of
these methodological shortcomings, useful data, particularly those highlighting gender differenceswere not available. The way data are maintained at the universities made it impossible to get any
useful information. The National Universities Commission’s annual reports were also severely
limiting in the information contained. This resulted in the utility of the data in the reports and bulletins
was limited, which in turn greatly limited how far some gender equity questions could be answered.

Statistics Generated
In order to achieve the objectives of this study, data were drawn from “reliable” statistics alreadygenerated from the universities by the National Universities Commission (NUC). However, thesewere supplemented by those provided by the university officials during the field and site visits, andliterature.
Table 6: Number of Candidates by Sex in Science Subjects at the Secondary School Certificate Examinations In
1980, 1981, 1983 and 1984
Subjects
Physics% increase

1980
M
F
23,608 4,265
N/A
N/A

1981
M
F
30,792 5,668
30.43
32.90

1983
M
F
49,470 11,074
60.66
95.38

1984
M
F
53,290 12,191
7.72
10.09

Chemistry% increase

49,648N/A

18,522
N/A

61,63824.15

75,41322.35

77,835
3.21

Biology% increase

90,997
N/A

43,671
N/A

106,645 54,251 165,360 111,541 180,106 30,396
17.20
24.23
55.06
105.60 8.92
16.90

24,336
31.39

Source: Adeyegbe and Olamousi (1987)

21

38,05156.36

39,374
3.48

WOMEN AND ENGINEERING IN N IGERIA: T OWARDS I MPROVED POLICY I NITIATIVES AND I NCREASED F EMALE PARTICIPATION
Table 7: Entry by Sex for Science Subjects and Percentage Passes from Grades 1-6 (1980 - 1984)
Subject

Sex 1980 Entry % Pass at 1981 Entry % Pass at 1983 Entry % Pass at 1984 Entry % Pass at
Gd. 1-6
Gd. 1-6
Gd. 1-6
Gd. 1-6

Chemistry M 49,648
F 18,522

42.23
32.50

61,63824,336

24.26
15.37

75,41338,051

14.68
7.61

77,83539,374

29.70
17.18

Biology

M 90,997
F 43,671

33.35
24.91

106,645
54,251

15.31
9.88

165,360
6.23

10.76
130,396

180,106
6.81

13.30

Physics

M 23,608
F 4,265

46.86
44.10

30,792
5,668

25.27
20.94

49,47011,074

14.88
13.18

53,29012,191

23.88
20.58

Source: WAEC Reports (1980 - 1984)

Table 6 displays the number of students enrolled in chemistry, physics and biology in the Secondary
School Certificate Examinations between 1980 and 1984. Though the pattern of gender differencein the enrolment for the subjects existed, there were definite increases in the number of female
candidates from year to year. However, male enrolment was also favoured with steady increases.
Table 7 displays the number and percentage of passes at credit and distinction level. It is observedthat there was no marked difference in the percentage of male and female scoring credit and abovein the three science subjects.
Table 8, however, shows a marked difference between male and female students who obtained
degrees in the faculties of engineering or technology between 1983 and 1988. Consistently during
the period, female graduands formed less than 12 percent of the total graduands. However, thispicture was a great improvement on the situation depicted in Table 9. Prior to 1983, very few female
students were enrolled in the faculties of engineering and technology.
In 1968/69, the percentage of female students dropped to 0.8 percent due to the civil war. However,itpicked up from 1971.
Table 8: Total Students by Sex Obtaining Degrees from Faculties of Engineering And Technology in all Nigerian
Universities 1983 - 1990

Session1983/84
1984/85
1985/86
1986/87
1987/88
1988/89

Male
840
280
1,528
1,635
1,529
N/A

N/A = Not Available

Female Total
85
925
37
317
75
1,603
111
1,746
99
1,628
N/A
N/A

% Female
9.2
11.7
4.7
6.4
6.1
N/A

Source: NUC Annual Reports

22

ATPS W ORKING PAPER N O. 37

Trends in Enrolment in Selected University Faculties of Engineering
Table 9: Pre 1983 Total Enrolment in Faculties of Engineering and Technology
Year
1967/68

Male
1,406

Enrolled
Female Total% Female
4
1,410
0.2

Attrition Rate for both sexes
44%

1968/69

604

5

609*

0.8

52%

1971

3,354

101

3,455

3.0

N/A

1974/75

1,983

104

3,087

3.3

N/A

* Decrease could have been affected adversely by the civil war, which resulted in the closure of the University ofNsukka.
N/A = Not Available.
Table 10: Student Enrolment by Sex in Engineering and Technology, 1979 - 1986

Year
1979/80
1980/81
1981/82
1985/86

University
ABU, Zaria
All Universities
All Universities
UNN, Nsukka

M
431
234
3,580
1,078

F
6
64
156
22

Total
437
2,405
3,736
1,110

%F
1.4
2.7
4.2
1.98

Source: Compiled from STAN (1992) and University Digest of Statistics for the years.
Table 11: Enrolment by Sex in Engineering, University of Ife, 1983/84
Sex
Male
FemaleTotal% Female

Agric.
Eng.
63
1
64
1.6%

Chemical
Eng.
102
15
117
12.8%

Civil
Eng.
123
15
124
0.8%

Electrical &Electron Eng.
177
10
187
5.3%

Source:Adapted from Osibodu (1985)

23

Mechanical
Eng.
118
1
119
0.8%

Metal
Eng.
67
3
70
4.3%

WOMEN AND ENGINEERING IN N IGERIA: T OWARDS I MPROVED POLICY I NITIATIVES AND I NCREASED F EMALE PARTICIPATION
Table 12: Enrolment in Engineering Graduating Classes, University of Ife, 1984
Sex
Male
FemaleTotal% Female

Agric.
Eng.
10
10
0%

Chemical
Eng.
29
29
0%

Civil
Eng.
27
27
0%

Electrical &Electron. Eng.
67
1
68
1.5%

Mechanical
Eng.
26
26
0%

Metal
Eng.
14
14
0%

Source:Adapted from Osibodu (1985)
Table 13: Performance of Graduating Class in Engineering, University of Ife, 1983/84
Sex

StatusM

Graduating
Non-grad.
Graduating
Non-grad.

F

Chemical
Eng.
9
1
-

Civil
Eng.
19
10
-

Electrical &Electron. Eng.
13
3

Mechanical
Eng.
5
5
7

Metal
Eng.
21
5
-

Total
67
21
10

Source:Adopted from Osibodu (1985)

Tables 10 and 11 show also the poor enrolment of female students in engineering. As depicted inTable 11, chemical engineering was the most attractive of the disciplines to female students with
12.8 percent enrolment of females.
Tables 12 and 13 presented an even more dismal picture. There was no female enrolled in thegraduating class in chemical, civil and metal engineering departments. There were three in electricaland electronic and seven in mechanical engineering. These 10 female students were however nongraduating. This was due to the fact that they had not achieved well enough to graduate. As Osibodu
categorised, “non-graduating students are failing, but not necessarily outright failure to warrant droppingout in all cases”.
Thus the students have failed a course or more and need other opportunities to resit the examination.
This is a provision available under the course system operated by the universities.

24

ATPS W ORKING PAPER N O. 37
Table 14: Total New Entrants in Engineering Education Between 1983 and 1993 in Nigeria
Year
1983/84
1984/85
1985/86
1986/87
1987/88
1988/89
1989/90
1990/91
1991/92
1992/93

S ex
M
2,518
2,957
2,754
3,659
1,181
3,868
3,677
N/A
N/A
N/A

F
130
225
186
397
202
272
342
N/A
N/A
N/A

Total

%F

1,648
3,182
2,940
4,056
1,383
4,140
4,019
N/A
N/A
N/A

7.9
7.1
6.3
9.8
14.6
6.57
8.5
N/A
N/A
N/A

N/A = Not Available
Source: NUC Reports (1983 - 1993)
Table 15: Total Enrolment by Sex in Engineering Education Between 1983 and 1993 in Nigeria
Year
1983/84
1984/85
1985/86
1986/87
1987/88
1988/89
1989/90
1990/91
1991/92
1992/93

S ex
M
8,541
9,525
10,668
11,70812,982
13,03913,372
N/A
N/A
N/A

N/A = Not Available

F
452
501
604
847
982
973
871
N/A
N/A
N/A

Total

%F

% F Increase

8,993
10,026
11,272
12,555
13,96414,012
14,243
N/A
N/A
N/A

5.0
5.0
5.7
7.2
7.6
7.5
6.1
N/A
N/A
N/A

7.6
-

Source: NUC Statistical Digest (1980-1986)

In its analysis of student enrolment for the year 1988, NUC found that the overall female enrolment
was 26.0 percent of the total population in Nigerian universities for that year. In the same 1987/88
period, females accounted for only 7.6 percent of the engineering students enrolled. Both Tables 14
and 15 confirm this.

25

WOMEN AND ENGINEERING IN N IGERIA: T OWARDS I MPROVED POLICY I NITIATIVES AND I NCREASED F EMALE PARTICIPATION
Table 16: Total Enrolment and Graduation by Level of Course in Engineering and Technology, 1983 - 1990
Year

1983/1984
1984/1985
1985/1986
1986/1987
1987/1988
1988/1989
1989/1990

Enrolled
First Degree PG Dip/Cert.
M
F M
F
1,889 100 41
38,758 457
35 39,146 569
27 9
10,830 778
68 14
11,043 871
N/A N/A
12,299 906
81 7
13,372 871
40
9Graduated
Higher Degree First Degree PG Dip/Cert. Higher Degree
M
F
M
F
M
F
M
F
188
7
725
73
30
5
85
7
438
39
92
1
54
35
134 1
521
47
1,380 5526
10
122 10508
34
1,490 7915
8
211 17
N/A
N/A 1,529 99
N/A N/AN/A N/A
576
55
N/A
N/A
N/A N/AN/A N/A
632
39
N/A
N/A
N/A N/AN/A N/A

N/A = Figures not available.
Source: NUC Annual Report (1983 - 1990)
Table 17: Total Enrolment by Sex in Nine Selected Faculties of Engineering and Technology - First Degree 19831990
University 1983/84
1984/85
1985/86
1986/87
1987/88
1988/89
M
F M
F M
F M
F M
F
M
Ibadan637
59 82952 897
54 1,260 78 858
63704
Nsukka1,090 37 1,149 28 1,138 32 1,080 29 1,055 31
1,000
Zaria
452
05 586 10 660
13 548 14 699
15
590
Benin
1,217 53 1,104 49 1,160 50 1,126 128 1,104 27
1,011
Lagos
1,089 58 1,197 72 1,276 73 1,260 78 1,495 89
1,309
Ife
1,071 151 1,201 168 1,576 221 1,490 208 1,602 213
1,651
Anambra 847
16 54812 88918 680 25 715
38
738
State Univ.
of Agric &TechFederal 266 16
Univ. of
Tech.
Akure
Port Har.
222
07 327
10 349 19 377 17 546
22631

Source: NUC Annual Reports and Statistical Digest (1983 - 1993).

26

F
44
29
12
53
92
216
42

1989/90
M
703
944
590
1,011
1,290
1,772
773

321

18

21

631

F
61
30
12
53
76
48
62

26

ATPS W ORKING PAPER N O. 37

Participation of Women in Different Engineering Fields
Various writers in developing economies have found that there are different and striking participation
rates between engineering fields. Consequently, Everts and Oost (1986) argue that technology
cannot be treated as one homogenous field. When the participation rate was examined for Universityof Lagos, it was discovered that chemical engineering had for the periods examined, the highest
number of females among the four fields. Mechanical engineering consistently had the lowest rateof female participation. This is reflected in Tables 20, 21 and 22.
In their study in Netherlands, chemical engineering, along with applied mathematics, andarchitecture attracted the highest percentage of women. Other fields like electronic engineering,mechanical engineering and civil engineering were not attractive to women in Netherlands at all, as
only 1 or 2 percent of the students enrolled were female.
Remarkably, as shown in Tables 20, 21 and 22, mechanical engineering in Nigeria attracted thelowest number of females as only 2.6 percent and 2.0 percent of the students that enrolled in the
1992/93 and 1994/95 sessions, respectively, were female.
Everts and Oost (1986) found it difficult to explain this development in their country but suggested
that the reason could be related to a general perception of unfavoured fields as a male domain;
mechanical engineering has to do with instruments, machines and tools, while on the other hand, thesociety portrays the woman as soft, gentle and fragile. Thus, the incompatibility between the purported
comfort of women as against the ruggedness attributed to men is obvious. Evert and Oost suggested
that other arguments can be found in the interest of women. Women relatively are more interested infields that have different aspects combined. Such suggested fields include aesthetic, humanistic,
political and technological aspects. Thus, as Everts and Oost argue, women favour technical studies
with an interdisciplinary character.
Table 18: Student Enrolment by Sex in University of Lagos, 1984-91
Year
1984/85
1985/86
1986/87
1987/88
1988/89
1989/90
1990/91

Male
10,815
11,654
8,821
11,644
11,2308,029
7,647

Female
3,051
3,451
3,494
4,962
4,025
4,000
5,000

Total
13,866
15,105
12,315
16,606
15,255
12,02012,647

%F
22.0
29.6
28.3
29.8
26.3
33.2
39.5

Source: Academic Planning Unit, University of Lagos (1996)

27

WOMEN AND ENGINEERING IN N IGERIA: T OWARDS I MPROVED POLICY I NITIATIVES AND I NCREASED F EMALE PARTICIPATION
Table 19: Student Enrolment in Different Engineering Fields, University of Lagos, 1989 - 1995
Field
1989/90 1990/91 1991/92 1992/93 1994/95
Chemical Engineering
255
304
333
343
343
Civil Engineering
400
280
280
344
245
Electrical Engineering
308
390
412
396
359
Mechanical Engineering
337
381
431
457
299
Surveying
193
151
144
220
159
Engineering Analysis
2
Total
1,493
1,506
1,600
1,760
1,405
Source: Academic Planning Unit, University of Lagos (1996)
Table 20: Total Student Enrolment by Sex in Different Engineering Fields in University of Lagos, 1992/93
Department*Electrical Engineering
Chemical Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Civil Engineering

M
268
192
367
201

F
38
34
10
23

Total
306
226
337
224

%F
12.4
15.0
2.6
10.2

* Includes post-graduate students.
Source: Academic Planning Unit, University of Lagos (1996)
Table 21: Participation Rate by Sex in Different Engineering Fields (University of Lagos - 1994/95)
Department
Electrical Engineering*Chemical Engineering
Mechanical Engineering*Civil Engineering

M
319
219
192
154

F
39
49
4
16

Total
358
268
196
170

%F
12.2
22.4
2.0
9.4

*
Figure excludes for year 1 students in asterisked departments.
Source: Academic Planning Unit, University of Lagos (1996)

28

ATPS W ORKING PAPER N O. 37
Table 22: Student Enrolment in Different Engineering Fields, 1992/93 Year I, University of Lagos
Field
Electrical Engineering
Civil Engineering
Chemical Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Electronics Engineering

Male
43
35
34
59
CNA

Female
17
4
6
1
CNA

Total
60
39
40
61
CNA

%F
28.3
10.3
17.6
1.6
CNA

CNA - Course not available in university
Source: Academic Planning Unit, University of Lagos (1996)
Table 23: Student Enrolment By Sex in Surveying, University of Lagos, 1995/96
Year
I
II
III
IV
V

M
32
40
13
23
31

F
1
5
3
3
0

Total
33
45
16
26
31

%F
3.0
11.1
18.7
11.5
0.0

Source: Academic Planning Unit, University of Lagos (1996)
Table 24: Student Enrolment in Mechanical Engineering, University of Lagos, 1995/96
Year
I
II
III
IV
V

M
85
46
N/A
65
84

F
5
3
N/A
5
1

Total
90
49
N/A
70
85

%F
6.0
6.1
N/A
7.1
1.2

N/A = Data not available
Source: Academic Planning Unit, University of Lagos (1996)

29

WOMEN AND ENGINEERING IN N IGERIA: T OWARDS I MPROVED POLICY I NITIATIVES AND I NCREASED F EMALE PARTICIPATION
Table 25: Engineering Enrolment by Sex at University of Lagos, 1995/96
Department
MechanicalElectrical
Civil
Chemical
Metalling &Materials
Surveying

Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
M
F M
F M
F
67
5 67
2 55
1
68
7 71
9 50
5
48
7 42
6 30
3
56
14 78
19 44
9
31
3 23
3 8
0

Year 4
Year 5
Year 6 (N/A)
M
F M
F M
F
66
3 75
3
61
10 121
7
50
5 51
8
48
17 66
11
11
1 17
0

37

32

1

41

4

14

3

4

37

0

N/A = Not Available.

Source: Faculty of Engineering, Unilag, (1996)

With the emerging picture that mechanical engineering was the least favoured by female students,
an investigation was conducted into the enrolment for the discipline at the University of Lagos, (Table
20 and 21). Table 22 confirmed that for 1992/93 sessions, only one female student registered forchemical engineering. This was despite the fact that chemical engineering had for that year, thelargest number of students, compared to other departments. By the 1995/96 sessions, the situation
improved slightly, with less than 10 percent of students in all the levels being women.
A great source of concern is the disparity in the figures obtained from the faculty and the Academic
Planning Unit. However, the main point that clearly stands out is that female enrolment did not
significantly increase.

Courses and Fields Most Preferred by Female Lecturers and Feminization Ratein Engineering and Technology
The impact of women while being felt in other areas of education, has not been marked with increasesof female lecturer participation in engineering. Tables 26 to 36 show the number of female lecturers
in engineering for the period 1983-1988 in the selected universities. On the grounds of the data
gathered from these tables, the following findings were derived:
Majority of faculties of engineering had no female lecturer. Out of the selected universities, for theperiod 1983-1988, Nsukka had no female lecturer, while Ibadan had only one in 1988. However,Lagos and Benin fared just better with its low but consistent number of female lecturers.
From the data, the field favoured by the few female lecturers is chemical engineering. At the
University of Lagos, this department had the only two lecturers. However, in the 1995/96 session, thedistribution pattern changed, with just a female lecturer retained in chemical engineering and anotherone in Engineering Analysis. This confirmed earlier assertions that the chemical branch is the most
attractive of the different fields.
Tables 26 to 36 present the figures for the other universities in this study. For the generality of theuniversities, women were conspicuously less than ten in number and thus did not make up to 10
percent of academic staff in Engineering in any of the universities. In the pooled figure for the period
1983/84 to 1987/88, there were less than 6 percent females among academic staff in Engineeringand Technology Faculties.
30

ATPS W ORKING PAPER N O. 37
Table 26: Academic Staff in Engineering and Technology in all Nigerian Universities, 1980/81 - 1989/90
Year
1980/81
1981/82
1982/83
1983/84
1984/85
1985/86
1986/87
1987/88
1988/89
1989/90* Nil

Male/Female
Female % Female
572
17
2.9
745
8
1.1
761
29
3.7
772
22
2.8
837
27
3.2
869
50
5.75
529
20
3.8
941
32
3.4
*
*
*
*
*
*
Source: National Universities Commission (1991)

Table 27: Academic Staff by Sex in Engineering and Technology in Nigerian Universities, 1983 - 1988
Session1983/84
1984/85
1985/86
1986/87
1987/88

Male
850
810
819
909
909

Female
22
27
50
20
32

Total
872
837
869
929
941

% Female
2.5
3.2
5.8
2.2
3.4

Source: NUC Reports (1983 - 1988)
Table 28: Academic Staff in Different Engineering Fields, University of Lagos, 1994 - 1996
Field/Department
Chemical Engineering
Civil Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Surveying
Engineering Analysis
Hydraulic Research

1994/95
M
F
16
2*
14
0
13
0
15
0
9
0
5
0
1
0

1995/96
M
F
15
1*
12
0
10
0
14
0
11
0
9
1
-

* Reduction in number of women probably through attrition.
Source: Academic Planning Unit, University of Lagos (1996)

31

WOMEN AND ENGINEERING IN N IGERIA: T OWARDS I MPROVED POLICY I NITIATIVES AND I NCREASED F EMALE PARTICIPATION
Table 29: Academic Staff by Sex in Engineering and Technology, University of Ife, 1983 - 1990
Year
M
1983/8492
1984/85107
1985/86108
1986/87
101
1987/88
97
1988/89
N/A
1989/90
N/A
N/A = Not Available
Source: NUC (1983 - 1990)

F
4
4
2
2
3
N/A
N/A

Total
96
111
110
103
100
N/A
N/A

%F
4.2
3.6
1.8
2.0
3.0
N/A
N/A

Table 30: Academic Staff by Sex in Engineering and Technology, University of Ibadan, 1983 - 1990
Year
M
F
Total
1983/84
84
0
84
1984/8575
075
1985/8679
079
1986/8779
079
1987/88
83
1
84
1988/89
N/A
N/A
1989/90
N/A
N/A
N/A = Not Available
Source: NUC Annual Reports (1983 - 1990)

%F
0
0
0
0
1.1

Table 31: Academic Staff by Sex in Engineering and Technology, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, 1983 - 1990
Year
1983/84
1984/85
1985/86
1986/87
1987/88
1988/89
1989/90

M
87
93
97
97
87
N/A
N/A

F
4
4
0
0
6
N/A
N/A

Total
91
97
97
97
93
N/A
N/A

%F
4.4
4.1
0
0
6.5
N/A
N/A

N/A = Not Available
Source: NUC (1983 - 1990)

32

ATPS W ORKING PAPER N O. 37
Table 32: Academic Staff by Sex in Engineering and Technology, Anambra State University of Science and Technology,
1983 - 1990
Year
1983/84
1984/85
1985/86
1986/87
1987/88
1988/89
1989/90

M
47
N/A
41
41
53
N/A
N/A

F
5
N/A
0
0
1
N/A
N/A

Total
52
N/A
41
41
54
N/A
N/A

%F
10.0
N/A
0
0
2.0
N/A
N/A

N/A = Not Available
Source: NUC (1983 - 1990)
Table 33: Academic Staff by Sex in Engineering and Technology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, 1983 - 1990
Year
1983/84
1984/85
1985/86
1986/87
1987/88
1988/89
1989/90

M
66
65
62
51
50
N/A
N/A

F
0
0
0
0
0
N/A
N/A

Total
66
65
62
51
50
N/A
N/A

%F
0
0
0
0
0
N/A
N/A

N/A = Not Available
Source: NUC (1983 - 1990)
Table 34: Academic Staff by Sex in Engineering and Technology, University of Benin, 1983 - 1990
Year
1983/84
1984/85
1985/86
1986/87
1987/88
1988/89
1989/90

M
71
70
65
68
69
N/A
N/A

F
1
1
2
2
2
N/A
N/A

Total
72
71
67
70
71
N/A
N/A

%F
1.4
1.4
3.0
3.0
2.8
N/A
N/A

N/A = Not Available
Source: NUC (1983 - 1990)

33

WOMEN AND ENGINEERING IN N IGERIA: T OWARDS I MPROVED POLICY I NITIATIVES AND I NCREASED F EMALE PARTICIPATION
Table 35: Academic Staff by Sex in Engineering and Technology, University of Port-Harcourt, 1983 - 1990
Year
1983/84
1984/85
1985/86
1986/87
1987/88
1988/89
1989/90

M
N/A
N/A
41
41
39
N/A
N/A

F
N/A
N/A
1
1
1
N/A
N/A

Total
N/A
N/A
42
42
40
N/A
N/A

%F
N/A
N/A
2.4
2.4
2.5
N/A
N/A

N/A = Not Available
Source: NUC (1983 - 1990)
Table 36: Academic Staff by Sex in Engineering and Technology, University of Lagos, 1983 - 1990
Year
1983/84
1984/85
1985/86
1986/87
1987/88
1988/89
1989/90

M
81
89
90
99
78
N/A
N/A

F
2
3
2
3
2
N/A
N/A

Total
83
92
92
102
80
N/A
N/A

%F
2.4
3.3
2.1
3.0
2.5
N/A
N/A

N/A = Not Available
Source: NUC (1983 - 1990)
Table 37: Mean Academic Staff-Student Ratio for Federal Universities Faculty of Engineering in 1993/94
NUC Recommended Guideline
Actual Staff and Student Ratio

1:9
1:21

Source: NUC Annual Report (1994), p. 53

34

ATPS W ORKING PAPER N O. 37
Table 38: Student-Staff Ratios in Engineering Faculties in Nigeria*Year
1962/63
1963/64
1964/65
1965/66
1966/67
1967/68
1968/69
1969/70
1970/71
1971/72
1972/73
1973/74
1974/75
1975/76
1976/77
1977/78
1978/79
1979/80
1980/81
1981/82
1982/83
1983/84
1984/85
1985/86
1986/87
1987/88
1988/89
1989/90
1990/91

No. of Students
278
351
505
660
777
451
588
667
1,299
1,565
2,211
2,684
3,027
3,141
2,899
2,690
3,357
3,944
4,855
6,449
7,240
8,628
8,527
10,668
11,79812,381
14,063
14,787
9,884

No. of Teachers
20
25
24
104
89
62
66
69
161
161
225
263
348
357
304
357
398
406
572
752
768
788
837
866**
909
937
901
772
650

Student-Teacher Ratio
14.1
14.1
21.1
6.1
8.1
7.1
9.1
10.1
8.1
10.1
10.1
10.1
9.1
9.1
10.1
8.1
8.1
10.1
8.1
9.1
9.1
11.1
10.1
12.1
13.1
13.1
16.1
19.1
15.1

*These figures exclude post-graduate students enrolled in engineering courses.
** Including 46 female lecturers.
Source: Culled from NUC (1992)

Academic Staff-Student Ratio in Engineering
Table 37 presents the guideline on academic staff-student ratio for Federal universities’ faculties ofengineering in 1993/94. This is to be 1:9. However, the actual ratio in practice was 1:21. It is thus
obvious that teachers are overstretched or stressed. Tables 24 and 25 show that in a class, the figure
was even higher. Thus, it is appropriate to assume that such lecturers would have no time to devotespecially to the few females in their classes.
Table 38 presents the student-staff ratios in engineering faculties for the whole of Nigeria. It could
be observed that from the years following the implementation of the 60:40 Science: Arts admission
35

WOMEN AND ENGINEERING IN N IGERIA: T OWARDS I MPROVED POLICY I NITIATIVES AND I NCREASED F EMALE PARTICIPATION
policy, there was an increase in enrolment in engineering. It, however, seems that there was adequately
corresponding increase in the recruitment of teachers, either male or female.

How Female Engineering Students Experience their Study
Female engineering students were asked to discuss their experiences in the course. Their responses
included the following positive remarks:•
All engineering requires is a lot of hard work. There are no pleasant experiences. It’s beeninteresting and enlightening. Now I know the meaning of major stress — when a guy offers
you his seat and helps you get something when there’s a rush. Very superficial with little orno practical experience. It is an interesting course, but involves a lot of studying.
•
The males try to help out the girls when it comes to some heavy machine experiment. I don’t
feel inferior to male students because I know that I am better off than some of themacademically.
•
Engineering has been a great challenge to me being a female. It has made me aware of myabilities, challenging and interesting.
•
A little trying, but interesting and worthwhile. The favour I have over the males in terms ofdecisions.
•
It’s an interesting course because it sharpens one’s intellect.
•
Lack of adequate number of female students bothers me a lot.
•
The course is okay, but the faculty lacks practical facilities relevant to present day
developments.
•
Tedious and time consuming.
•
We have almost no practical training. I cannot thus say that I’ll be a good engineer.
•
The male students treat ladies with respect.
They however had negative experiences. These include:•
Lousy remarks made by male students, acts of indecency towards them, portraying of themale ego.
•
Attempts to reduce the female students to mere play things.
Though majority of the female found the course stressful, challenging and “time consuming”, they
indicated a free choice of engineering and a determination based on interest to pass. Many also
indicated the desire to see their course through.
Though some females (and some few males too) thought of dropping out during their first year,
they had a change of mind and persisted and had settled down to enjoy the course.

Attrition and Wastage among Female Engineering Students
It was impossible to obtain addresses of students who had dropped out of engineering schools(irrespective of sex) for this study. This was because the institutions did not maintain adequate andretrievable data on such matters and thus had none to give to the researchers.
As a result of this, the limited evidence on attrition and dropout causes were derived from thequestionnaires completed by current engineering students and from yearly cumulative enrolment
data. The study confirmed the findings reported by Everts and Van Oost (1986) which did not find a36

ATPS W ORKING PAPER N O. 37
clear-cut difference between the graduated group and the dropout group. They concluded that there
seemed to be few, if any, factors that would clearly and generally lead to failure. Interestingly, most of
the factors which were given for causes of dropout (e.g. decreasing motivation, or difficulty of course)
were also given as part of the experiences of graduated students. Everts and Oost concluded that forthe dropout students, the factors highlighted interacted in such a way as to cause the students to dropout.
Table 39: Female Attrition at the University of Lagos

Civil Engineering

Mechanical Engineering

Chemical Engineering

Electrical Engineering

1992/93
Year I (4)Year II (5)Year IV (9)Year I (1)Year II (6)Year IV (0)Year I (6)Year II (12)Year III (7)Year I (17)Year II (N/A)

1994/95
Year III (5)Year IV (8)Year V (0)*Year III (1)Year IV (0)*Year V (1)Year III (20)Year IV (10)*Year V (5)*Year III (17)Year IV (4)1995/96
Year IV
N/A
N/A
Year IV (5)Year N/A (1)
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A

* Drop in female enrolment
N/A = Figures not available

At the University of Lagos which was used as a case study for the test of this factor, the study showsthat the nine female students who were in Year III during the 1992/93 session had dropped out andcould not be accounted for in the figure of year V students for the 1994/95 session. For the year V,
1994/95 session, the presence of the single female student could be explained with factors like interuniversity or inter-faculty transfer which could have taken place at the end of the third year or during
the fourth year.
Just as Davis (1996) opines, this is a crude measure of retention, as it does not give adequate
information about the movement of the students. Explanations for unexplained figures could not begiven by the institutions. Davis further reiterated that actual retention rates in any field are difficult tofind, as it is difficult to tell those who move on to other majors, change school or even drop out
altogether.
From indepth interviews conducted, it was found that the few girls reported to have dropped out ofengineering did so because of unplanned pregnancy or the need to get married.
The disadvantages faced by girls as indicated by both male and female respondents were inability
to handle complex jobs, and lack of patience to perfect tasks that need accuracy and concentration.

37

WOMEN AND ENGINEERING IN N IGERIA: T OWARDS I MPROVED POLICY I NITIATIVES AND I NCREASED F EMALE PARTICIPATION

Factors that Triggered off Thoughts of Dropping out of Engineering Course
Among Female Students
The study sought to know why some female students stopped their studies or changed courses fromengineering as a way to solve the problem of low representation of women in the field. Thus, aqualitative approach was adopted to seek the reasons why female respondents had thought of changing
from or dropping out of the engineering school at one point or the other during their study. When
asked to indicate their reasons, the following factors were given as having triggered off thoughts ofdropping out of engineering school at one point or the other:•
Overloading of course work and inadequate time given by lecturers.
•
Engineering course had been stressful.
•
Intimidation of girls by male students (e.g. struggle to take lecture places or seats).
•
Overcrowded classes with little individual attention.
•
Poor teaching in certain courses which caused an inability to cope with the challenges suchcourses presented.
•
Females were sometimes left out of class discussions or tutorials by the male students.
•
Religious factor - “being a Muslim and a conscious one, it is against the Islamic ideals that
opposite sex mix freely. Majority of students in engineering are male, so I don’t find it easy toobserve unless you don’t want to talk to anyone”.
•
Thought that other courses (e.g. architecture) were better for a woman.
•
Poor performance in subjects that had not been “well taught” by lecturers. This was particularly
during the first year in the university and in courses that required mathematical skill.
•
Lack of adequate numbers of fellow female students.
•
Workload in engineering had been heavy, so many students thought of changing to arts.
•
Constant closure of school.
•“Lecturers coming and starting lectures a few weeks or days to examinations and ending up
failing everyone”.
•
School-related stress.
There were however “persisters” who had a different response to these issues.
“If I drop out of engineering, I would probably be doing another course which I won’t be interested
in. The thing about engineering is that you are studying something you can see and which is notabstract”.
The female whose response is presented above never felt like dropping out of engineering school
despite the stress she experienced (“All engineering requires a lot of hard work”). Dropping out ofengineering would not be the end of schooling or studying, but this could mean a change to a more
“simpler” course, which is of no interest to this female engineering respondent. She regarded herself
as a persistent student.

Proportion of Female Students in Engineering Classes
All graduate engineer respondents indicated that female students were in the minority throughout thecourse of their study. In an average class, there were 48 male and between 2 to 6 females. 52.3
percent agreed that this complicates the problems of the female student. As a male respondent puts
38

ATPS W ORKING PAPER N O. 37
it, “nasty experiences will make her serious and at the same time be able to do some serious
projects”.
However, respondents also agreed that not all female experiences in a male dominated class are
nasty. Instances cited included friendliness and assistance from both sides. In fact, 60 percent
indicated that even their predominantly male teachers were quite friendly and encouraging to thegirls.

Choice of and Support for Engineering Courses
Respondents were asked to indicate how they decided on their choice of course. Nearly all the
respondents (including males) indicated that the choice of engineering was theirs. Further analysis
revealed that for some of the female students, they had no senior brothers and one of their parents(mostly the father) had a technical job. Only 2 percent attributed their choice to either their father,friends or other family members.
This finding supports some of the literature on this issue. Granstam (1985) found that female
technology students were more often than not daughters of engineers or those with technicalbackground.
For the female engineering students that participated in the study, their parents were supportive of
their choice. The support was manifested in the payment of their fees, and other expenses for theircourse. A further analysis revealed that the support was given even when neither of the parents were
not engineers. Parents’ occupations were varied from farmers to engineers. None of the female
respondents indicated that there was at any point in the course of their study, a period when parents
or the family exerted pressures to dissuade them from choosing or continuing with their engineeringcourse.
Some of the respondents did not have any brothers with whom to compete for parental love. Thisseemed to partially support LeBold’s (n.d) view that women who choose engineering as a career are
likely to have no brothers.
When the respondents were asked to indicate the toys played with as a child, the toys indicatedwere found to be mechanical.

Student Interaction
The female engineering students reported the following as some of their unpleasant experiences:•
Male students pretend to be friendly in order to find a way to date fellow female students.
Assistance from male students has strings attached.
•
Male students are rough, jump queues and displace girls’ access to equipment. Most
times, female students are intimidated by boys into taking back seats. This is mostly madepossible because of the few numbers of females in the class.
Others, however, realized that in such male dominated classes, there usually exists friendly andco-operative males. Some boys were considered nice and were very helpful to the girls. Assistanceincluded offer of seats to the girls in sparsely furnished classes or in overcrowded classes and offer toobtain services or equipment when there was a rush. Others were more often willing to share theirideas with the girls.
39

WOMEN AND ENGINEERING IN N IGERIA: T OWARDS I MPROVED POLICY I NITIATIVES AND I NCREASED F EMALE PARTICIPATION
Talking further on their experiences in engineering classes, respondents reported the following:•
Loneliness and frustration in a largely male-dominated class.
•Victimization by male lecturers if offer of sexual advances is rebuffed.
•
Where physical strength is required, we have to cope with stress.
•
Disturbing approaches during and outside class by fellow male classmates for friendship.
•
Group work was mostly difficult to achieve considering the fact that there is a limit to malefemale interaction.
•
Male students sometimes made life difficult by making fun of the females in engineeringclasses.

Male Student Perception of Females’ Experience in Engineering Classes
Male engineering students were requested to discuss their perception of how their female colleagues
experienced their courses and classes. Some of the views are summarized:•
Inability of girls to carry out “rugged” assignments which their male counter-parts do.
•
Lack of respect from fieldworkers during practicals.
•
They are always victims of male lecturers.
•
Inability to discuss feminine issues in class.
•
Inability to freely ask questions and participate in lessons.
•
In practical classes, there are occasions when physical exertion is required and female
students may want to avoid them especially in the presence of male students.
•
Inability to discuss academic problems with others when out of class.

Engineering Subjects Found Difficult by Female Students
From responses given, the list of subjects female students have had difficulty with included technicaldrawing, highway engineering, classical mechanics, numerical analysis, engineering appliedmathematics, and physics, particularly during the first year.
When asked to affirm whether the difficulty they had with any engineering subjects or courses
could be linked to their teachers’ attitude towards female students, majority (75 percent) responded
positively. They attributed this to the incessant strikes at the universities, to poor attitude of lecturers toduty, to lecturers coming late for classes or sometimes missing classes altogether, which leads to aconcentration of the workload over a short period of time.
The remaining 25 percent did not think their problem in the subjects could be attributed to theirlecturers’ fault. Some of the girls indicated that through interaction with their other classmates, they
discovered that difficulty in some engineering subjects was not isolated to girls alone, but was ageneral problem.

Childhood Toys and Play Materials
Respondents were asked to indicate the type of toys and materials they played with in their childhood.
This was analysed by sex. The finding was very interesting. Only 27 percent females indicatedplaying with toys which fit stereotypes created socially for females. These females indicated playing
with dolls, indulging in plays which were strictly feminine. One of the games is Ten-Ten, played by
40

ATPS W ORKING PAPER N O. 37
two girls who clap simultaneously and shoot out their legs before the other. It is usually won by thequickest girl to shoot out her leg continuously. Boys do not indulge in Ten-Ten.
All the boys and 75 percent of the girls indicated having had the following equipment for play: Jigsaw puzzles, cars and bicycles, ball, aeroplane toys, leggo, alphabet blocks, trains, wind-up record
players.
It has been widely argued that early from childhood, and during the early school years, girls are
made to believe that mathematical and mechanical talent are sex linked and that girls have less of
this talent than boys (Davis, et al. 1996). Thus, girls are made to play with dolls and teddy bears andare ultimately conditioned for “feminine” roles.
This finding supports the fact that girls who ended up in engineering were those that had been
positively sensitized to the field. Their parents had given them adequate preparation and sensitization,
coupled with elementary training in the use of tools, arrangements of parts and interaction withmechanical parts (bicycles and cars, etc) which are activities and experiences typical of engineering.
On the other hand, the male students gave the following responses:•“My earlier thought of dropping out was due to the fact that it took me much time in convincing
myself about my capability in handling the course”.
•“I wanted to change as I didn’t like the course at first. I am now a year 4 student and I havedeveloped keen interest in my mechanical course”.
A larger proportion of the respondents who indicated having the thought of dropping out ofengineering courses faced the problem during their first year at university.

Testing of Propositions
General Proposition
Since it has been widely highlighted that women find engineering studies and the work environment
inhospitable, it was proposed generally that the responses of females on all factors within the focus of
this study will not be the same as those of the male. Means, standard deviation and finally the t-test
were calculated. The value of alpha was set at .05, making the critical t-values associated with the df
above 30 equal to ±1.960.
As shown in Table 41, the calculated t-value was lower than the critical value for the following
factors, as the t-test found no significant difference between male and female sample on the following
factors: Annual salary, choice of engineering as a profession, support for engineering course andprofession, factor for changing jobs, unpleasant experiences, and disadvantages on the job.
However, significant differences were found between female and male respondents on thefollowing:•
Thought of abandoning engineering course while at school.
•
Rank of female and male engineers.
•
Disadvantages faced in engineering schools.
•Interaction with fellow students in engineering school.
The finding from the propositions tested corroborated that from the interviews conducted with thesame group of samples. There is no stated or proven difference in the salary given to female andmale engineers employed in industry. This is despite the fact that there is no legislation in the country
41

WOMEN AND ENGINEERING IN N IGERIA: T OWARDS I MPROVED POLICY I NITIATIVES AND I NCREASED F EMALE PARTICIPATION
which compels employers to pay men and women at the same rate. It seems, however, that this isdifferent from the practice in developed countries. In the US studies reported by the National ResearchCouncil (1994) showed that regardless of racial group, women scientists and engineers reported
mean annual salaries lower than those of men of the same race.
It seems that both male and female engineers had the same favourable reasons for opting forengineering, changing jobs within engineering, and possibly had similar disadvantages andunpleasant experiences on the job.
However, the empirical test indicated that the male and female engineers differed in their persistenceon the course. Male engineers faced different disadvantages in the school and perhaps had moreinteraction with fellow male students who were clearly more in number than the females.
Table 40: Demographic Characteristics of Professional Engineer Sample
VariableSex
Male
Female(%)
24
76

Marital Status
SingleMarried

12
88

Nationality
Nigerians
Foreigners

96
4

Age
25 - 35
36 - 45
above 45

51
35
14

Source: Field work

Fifty-one percent of the respondents were between the ages of 25 and 35, with thirty five percent
between ages 36 and 45. Fourteen percent were above 45.
The majority (88 percent) were married. It is to be noted that this is the time when most womenare also busy nursing children and starting families. Thus, they are adequately qualified to respondto issues on the stress involved in coping with family life and engineering duties.

42

ATPS W ORKING PAPER N O. 37
Table 41: Differences Between Male and Female Respondents
Variables in abridged form
Annual Salary
ChoiceSupportThought of Abandoning Course
Rank
Factor for changing jobs
If Admission Policy was Discriminatory
Nasty Experience
Disadvantage in School
Disadvantage on the job
Interaction

FemaleMean SD
1.20 .41
3.05 1.26
1.79 .41
1.52 .90
1.83 .38
1.62 .49
1.00 .00
3.45 1.21
3.29 1.12
2.83 1.00
3.79 .41

Mean
1.13
3.47
1.81
3.07
1.33
1.44
1.20
2.98
2.74
2.72
2.37

Male
SD
t
.49
.68
1.45 -1.14.38-.30
2.13 -3.07
.47
4.68
.50
1.42
.40
Not calculated
1.13 1.73
1.05 2.16
1.12 .52
1.29 5.26

Critical 1.960 P<0.05
Source: Field Work
Table 42: Perceptions of Female and Male Engineers
Item
Female engineering students lack information
about situation of real life work.
4.20
There is a lot of prejudice and mistrust against
female engineers in work places.
There isn’t much contact between female andmale engineers at work.
There is no teamwork between male and female.
Job Security
There is more job security for male engineers thanfor females.
Promotion
The people who get promoted are the maleengineers.
Opportunity for Professional GrowthMale engineers get all the exciting jobs around
here.
There is no opportunity for personal andprofessional growth for women in this job.
Only male engineers are sent to sites/oil rigs,
etc., while females are retained in the offices.

FemaleMean SD

Male
Mean SD

.41

2.81

1.19

5.63

3.62

1.05

4.05

.90

-1.94

2.83
2.79

1.20
1.21

4.05
3.32

.77
1.20

-5.80
-1.88

1.41

.83

1.71

1.09

-1.23

2.16

1.20

2.09

.87

.32

3.50

1.31

3.81

1.30

-1.01

2.00

.65

3.06

1.22

-4.09

4.20

.77

2.05

.905

10.41

Critical 1.960 P<0.05
Source: Field Work

43t

WOMEN AND ENGINEERING IN N IGERIA: T OWARDS I MPROVED POLICY I NITIATIVES AND I NCREASED F EMALE PARTICIPATION
Table 43: Perception of Female and Male Engineers
Variables in abridged form
Disadvantages on the job
Interactions with others
Girls were encouraged
Promotion
Annual Salary*
Girls had nasty experiences
Support of Parents
Years spent studying

FemaleMean SD
1.73 .45
1.97 1.0
1.62 .87
3.09 1.47
1.36 .48
1.59 .49
1.95 .84
3.54 1.44

Mean
1.91
2.61
2.08
3.15
1.40
1.32
2.14
3.88

Male
SD
.49
.69
1.0
1.55
.56
.55
.80
1.58

t
-2.37
-4.52
-2.79
-.24
-.38
3.08
-1.40
-1.35

Critical 1.960 P<0.05
Source: Field WorkNo significant differences were found between male and female engineers in the following:•
Promotion•
Years spent studying•
Parent’s support of course•
Annual salary (* reconfirmed).
Thus, respondents confirmed that there was no discrimination in the salary paid to female ormale engineers. Similarly, there was no difference in the number of years spent on the job before
engineers irrespective of sex, were promoted. Equal number of years was also mandatory for the
study of engineering by either male or female students. In addition, parents of both category ofengineers support their choice of course.
However, there were significant differences between female and male engineers on the following:•
Disadvantages suffered on the job•
Interactions with others•
Encouragement of girls•
Nasty experiences suffered by female students.

Remuneration
When asked to comment on remuneration paid to engineers generally in Nigeria, 69 percent responded
that the remuneration was poor and unattractive. Sixty-three percent had an annual salary which wasless than Naira 40,000.00 (less than $500 at $1:Naira 80) while 34 percent earned between Naira
40,000.00 and Naira 79,999. Only two percent indicated earning higher than 80,000.00 per annum.
During the interviews, it was noted that more women than men found the remuneration poor. One
woman engineer said: “My husband complains about the poor pay I bring home for all the training I
have. He is encouraging me to leave the job and go into some type of business. I’m yet to make up
my mind”.
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ATPS W ORKING PAPER N O. 37
Another female engineer remarked: “My husband has asked me to stay at home as he will take up
the payment of my meagre salary”.
What emerges strongly from these comments is that engineers are poorly remunerated in Nigeria.
Also, since some women had spouses, they had a choice to change professions, go into otherbusinesses or become full-time housewives.

Work Experience
Majority of respondents (96 percent) felt that engineering students had enough information about reallife engineering work. This is because of the internship included in their five-year programme. Someof the students (particularly the females) indicated the problems they have in getting a place to serve
their internship. The main factor for this problem is the economic depression in the country and theintensified unemployment.
However, the null hypothesis of no difference between the male and the female was rejected here.
The difference observed was significant (P < 0.05). Female engineers believed that female students
lack information about real life work situation.

Attitude of Female Engineers
Female engineers interviewed reported being discriminated against at work by the following factors:(a) Official discriminatory practices which include slow rate of promotion, barriers to specificand challenging jobs. They felt they were prevented from challenging jobs.
(b) Unfriendly attitude of male colleagues. On the other hand, some female engineers reported
the overprotective attitudes of male colleagues. They wished that male engineers would
benefit from training courses on how to relate to female colleagues.

Career Experiences of Female Engineers in Nigerian Industry
A major barrier the researchers met on field visits to some industries was the reluctance of managers
to disclose to the investigators how many female engineers they employ and their percentage among
their workforce.
From the responses to inquiries, the following was observed:•
Most industries have double standards for their male and female engineers. Women usually
were not sent to oil rigs or to carry out field work, while the men were involved in all aspectsof the job. Inevitably, this was reflected in the differentials in the pay between male andfemale engineers.
•
Most engineering companies had discriminatory recruitment policies. Eighty-five percentof those involved in the study reported that they had stayed unemployed for many years due
to hostility from employers as a result of their sex.
•
In the oil sector (here the respondents pleaded strict anonymity and confidentiality in order topreserve their jobs), women, particularly civil engineers, were retained in offices to carry out
administrative duties. Thus their job experience was limited, as the opportunities they haveare also limited. Of the three female civil engineers interviewed in that organization, two felt
comfortable with the arrangement as it affords them time to combine office duties with theirhousehold responsibilities. However, the remaining female engineer was dissatisfied with45

WOMEN AND ENGINEERING IN N IGERIA: T OWARDS I MPROVED POLICY I NITIATIVES AND I NCREASED F EMALE PARTICIPATION
the arrangement. She perceived this to have arisen because she is a woman. She craved
for an opportunity to work on sites.
A general complaint was the discrimination, though subtle, against women during recruitment.
Questions asked prospective female engineers included whether they were married and how many
children they had. This is because the presence of children is interpreted to cause instability andlack of dedication to the job. One female engineer reported: “I find it difficult to take time away fromwork to take my child to hospital. My boss shows his displeasure anytime I have to go off”.

Retention and Exit of Female Engineers from Industries
There was no adequate source of data to present on the rate of retention and exit of female engineersfrom their job. However, items of the questionnaire and interview schedule sought responses to thisissue. From responses, the following was deduced:•
The exit rate for women was higher than that of male engineers. This was made more
visible because of the few numbers of women employed.
•
Most often, women leave for family reasons. These include: desire to remain with family iftransferred to sites outside the home vicinity, a desire to raise children, and maternity leave.
•
Some leave because of unfriendly work environment. This was the most important factor forthe exit of a 36-year-old female respondent who left a construction company. She reported
stereotype behaviour of her manager who made her uncomfortable because of his criticismseven when she did perfectly well.
•
Others reported the general poor salary paid to engineers employed in the private sector of
Nigeria’s economy. She was dissatisfied with the low pay, which she felt was notcommensurate with the investment made.

Work-Family Issues
As had been found in developed countries, a work-family issue was a critical issue in the experienceof female engineers. The women experienced difficulty and great stress in juggling work and family
issues. As one puts it: “It was very uncomfortable carrying my pregnancy while at work. I wasprevented from the site once my pregnancy became visible and I have been kept off site work eversince... Yes, even years after I had my baby”.
Some expressed concern about the nature of their job which mostly took them away from theirhomes and children. They agreed that in the Nigerian context, it is mostly the duty of the mother tospend more time with the children. They thus had problems as it was impossible to be at both the
distant site and home simultaneously.
For the single engineers who had not experienced motherhood, other family issues brought
about stress in their duties. The need for the single girl or woman to be protected by parents or thefamily weighed strongly. In the African context, single women had to stay at the home in order to haverespect and dignity from prospective suitors. Thus, the need to comply with this made such female
engineers look as if they were unreliable for critical work movements. This in turn affected theirsuitability for advancement and brought about stagnation and frustration on the job.

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ATPS W ORKING PAPER N O. 37
An issue was the reluctance of spouse to permit their wives long travel. Thus, respondents all
agreed that strictly, their employment was not truly free from stereotype, as questions ascertaining
marital status were usually asked.
Unlike in some developed economies, Nigeria lacks laws and regulations protecting womenfrom questions which probe their privacy and which could be used against their promotion andparticipation in development.
In the US, Federal legislation exists to prohibit the use of illegal questions to ascertain whether
applicants are married, plan to marry or plan to have children.
The mean and standard deviations for some of the variables are presented in Tables 44 and 45.
When the t-test was computed, a number of statistically significant (P < 0.05) sex differences inperception of the variables were found. It was hypothesized that for all categories of variables, there
will be no difference between the female and male engineers.

Entry into Engineering Professions
Five items sought responses on accessibility of engineering posts.
Table 44: Entry and Re-Entry into Engineering
Item
Absence of re-entry programmes for female engineers.1.79
Few female engineers are able to practice as engineers,
but obtain employment in training and administrative posts.
Most female engineers take up office, teaching or researchjobs that are less exposed to risk.
Organizations generally prefer dealing with or hiring maleengineers.
Most organizations have no policy that enables female
engineers to take career breaks and later re-enter
the service.
Remuneration
Generally, for both male and female engineers,remuneration is poor.

FemaleMean SD
.77
2.05

Male
Mean SD
1.00 -1.16

t

4.00

1.14

2.54

1.11

5.55

3.04

.908

3.86

1.11

-3.28

2.62

1.21

2.72

.88

-.45

4.79

.41

3.97

1.18

3.32

3.20

1.21

2.13

1.01

4.30

Critical 1.960 P < 0.05
Source: Field Work

Entry and Re-Entry into Engineering Professions
The interview data indicated that women usually found it relatively difficult to get engineering jobs.
The females in particular stressed that while entry was difficult, most organizations also lacked reentry programmes for female workers. There was a significant difference between the male andfemale (see Table 44).
47

WOMEN AND ENGINEERING IN N IGERIA: T OWARDS I MPROVED POLICY I NITIATIVES AND I NCREASED F EMALE PARTICIPATION
When asked for the gender of engineers preferred by organizations, there was a unanimous
response that it was male. Most organizations had a silent recruitment policy which favoured men.
Qualitative data from the interview with technical managers from the participating firms revealed thatnone had any policy structured to promote the recruitment of female engineers. In particular, none of
the technical managers interviewed were ready to work with female engineers.

Pressure of Family Life
Four items sought responses of engineers on the effect of family life on the career performance offemale engineers.
Table 45: Pressure of Family Life
Item
Difficulty in combining career and family commitment. 2.62
Domestic reasons contribute to make women engineers
give up profession.
Young ages of children inhibit women engineers
effective participation.
Engineering work as it involves lots of travel cannot be
combined with family responsibilities.

FemaleMean SD
.82
1.94

Male
Mean SD.84 3.45

t

3.58

.50

3.14

1.38

1.52

3.58

1.06

3.28

1.11

1.14

3.62

.82

4.05

.77

-2.32

Source: Field WorkIn-depth interview with some of the female engineers revealed that often, they had to change jobs
because their husband moved to a different part of the country. The destabilizing effect of this wastremendous as it meant another beginning, and broken professional networks and contacts.
Other problems included the heavy load of domestic activities and care of young children. The
various family constraints have resulted in non-utilization of the previous engineering education. For
most past, the women practised other professions.
These included teaching, trading, doing contract work (supply of goods, materials and equipment
to companies), and consultancies.
In the industry, female engineers revealed that they face a lot of prejudice and mistrust. Seventyeight percent of respondents agreed to this. When the difference between female and male engineers
was tested, the null hypothesis of no difference was rejected. It was also found that there was a lot ofcontact between female and male engineers on the job.

Job Security and Opportunity for Professional Growth
For job security, it was found that there is a significant difference in job security for female and maleengineers. Female respondents indicated that their job was at risk for the following reasons: Leaveof absence to join spouse, maternity leave, days-off to visit clinics or time off to attend to sick children
or nurse other members of the family.
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ATPS W ORKING PAPER N O. 37
The study revealed that only the male engineers get all the exciting assignments, and are preferably
sent to sites, oil rigs, etc. while female engineers are prevented from executing tasks, which are“strenuous”. This in essence meant that the females have little or no opportunity for professional
growth.
Discrimination Against Female Engineers
Attitudes prevalent in the construction industry towards women led to the following: Few women wereusually recruited as employers thought that the management of their homes would prevent theireffective performance on the job, and discrimination on promotion.

Perceptions of Engineers on Strategies to Attract Females to the Profession
Respondents were asked to give suggestions on possible means of attracting more women into
engineering. Seminars, symposia, career talks and counselling were recommended. This, asargued, should be geared towards making women realize that engineering does not necessarily
involve their being away from their home and family all the time.
Others suggested that special attention should be paid to improving performance of women inscience and mathematics at secondary school. Teaching standards should be improved in order toattract girls to the basic subjects needed to specialize in engineering. Also suggested were:•
Introduction of catch-them-young programmes at both the primary and secondary schools.
This would arrest the setting of stereotypes before “minds are set”.
•
Female engineers, particularly APWEN members, must be more visible by serving as rolemodels to female students.
•
Proper orientation of people in the society through radio jingles, newspaper highlights, etc.,
in order to discourage further stereotyping about engineering as a male profession.
•
Make further mathematics compulsory for female students.
•
Publicize the fact that engineering does not involve strenuous physical tasks as it has been
purported to be.

Perception of Technical Managers(a) Description of managers’ sample
Sixty percent of managers were aged between 31 and 40 years while 20 percent were aged between
41 and 50 years. There were no data for the missing 20 percent. There were equal numbers offemale and male managers. Seventy percent were married while 30 percent were single (including
divorced managers). All managers were Nigerians. Seventy percent were engineers while 30 percent
had positions with administrative duties.
(b) Recruitment and retrenchment policies of firms involved in the study
Majority (80 percent) of the firms as indicated by the technical managers revealed that their firms do
not employ female engineers. Only 20 percent answered in the affirmative. Out of those that employ
female engineers, 60 percent and above had just a single female, while 40 percent had more than
one female engineer.

49

WOMEN AND ENGINEERING IN N IGERIA: T OWARDS I MPROVED POLICY I NITIATIVES AND I NCREASED F EMALE PARTICIPATION
Only 30 percent of the firms indicated that they encourage women into engineering by sponsoring
female students in engineering schools. Seventy percent indicated that they had no particular
programme as such.
In times of personnel cuts, technical managers were asked to indicate their first target group. The
result obtained was surprising. Sixty percent indicated that the male engineers would be the first togo, while 40 percent indicated that the female engineers would be the first target be retrenched.
(c) Differences in salaries
Fifty percent of the respondents indicated that male engineers were not paid higher salaries thantheir female counterparts, while the remaining 50 percent had a different opinion. The group that did
not perceive a difference in salary of female and male engineers also did not believe that maleengineers had better negotiating power than females. Asked differently, only 20 percent disagreed
that the firms paid lower salaries to female engineers.
(d) Exit of Female Engineers from Industry
An equal number of male and female respondents had differing view that female engineers often
withdraw their services from the firm’s employment. The 50 percent that indicated this also statedfamily reasons as the most important factor for their withdrawal. One said: “They usually leave aftergetting married. They usually find it difficult to combine the rigorous engineering job with theirdomestic obligations.”

Job Quality
Eighty percent technical managers considered the job output of male engineers to be of higher
quality than that of females. To confirm this view, 70 percent disagreed with the proposition thatfemale engineers were generally more effective than their male counterparts.
However, another 70 percent agreed that female engineers were mostly absent from sites becauseof family commitments.

Job Placement
We explored the issue of wrong placement of female engineers. The study revealed that while 50
percent were undecided, 50 percent strongly disagreed that female engineers are mostly used astechnicians in organizations.

Affiliations with Professional Engineering Bodies
We sought to confirm in the survey whether many females as compared to males have been able toregister in adequate numbers with COREN and NSE. Seventy percent agreed that only very few
women had registered.

Suitability of Women in Engineering Jobs
Responses obtained to this item were interesting. Sixty percent of the respondents were undecided
while the remaining 40 percent were equally divided in the position they took. Twenty percent agreed
that women were unsuitable while an equal number (20 percent) disagreed that women were unsuited50

ATPS W ORKING PAPER N O. 37
to engineering jobs. Fifty percent were adamant that women’s peculiar nature do not prevent themfor being sent to the field, while only 20 percent felt that women engineers cannot work in the field dueto their “peculiar” nature.

Flexibility of Work and Re-Entry Programmes for Women
All the technical managers agreed that their organizations did not have policies that enable female
engineers to take career breaks and later re-enter the service. There was a 100 percent consensus
on this. However, 50 percent of them were of the opinion that men were not expected to work equal
hours with women. Fifty percent also stated that the industry does not have flexible working hours for
women.

Employer Policies to Attract Female Engineers
None of the firms involved in the study had any policy aimed specifically at recruiting female engineers.
Recruitment policies also did not specifically emphasize that open positions were available to bothmale and female engineers. In most cases, advertisements used the word “he” or the terms“prospective candidates”. This sometimes sensitizes prospective female engineers negatively.
All the managers interviewed affirmed that their firm had no positive attempt to recruit any specificproportion of female engineers. Three managers categorically asserted that their company had noplace for female engineers.

Differentials in Pay
The quest for equality in status and opportunity for women in developed countries has been matchedwith the adoption of equal opportunity policy by most countries. Consequently, much attention is
being put on the salary offered to women compared to that offered men as incentives to attract themto specific jobs. In Nigeria, there is no distinct or special salary scale for women.
MacDonald (1985) found in her study that women working in science and engineering jobs earn
77 percent of men’s salaries. This was not applicable in Nigeria. For the industries involved in the
study the same salary scale was adopted for all engineers.

Efforts of other Types of Organizations to Promote Women’s Participation in
Engineering
The Zonta International Club of Lagos initiated the Amelia Earhart Memorial Lecture in January, 1977
with the aim of encouraging young women to take up careers in aeronautic engineering and aviation.
The lectures were to girls to always see their male counter-parts as partners in progress. They werealso attracted to go into all fields of engineering. Amelia Hart is remembered in January every year by
the Zonta International Club for promoting the interests of women.
The Association of Professional Women Engineers of Nigeria (APWEN) declared its intention topromote female participation in engineering with the introduction of student membership. A Standing
Committee has been constituted to see how the association can help enhance the learning capabilities
of female engineering students. The members are also examining ways of bridging the “yearning
information gap between school and the working environment”. In addition, there are plans to openstate chapters. More effort is also to be put into attracting membership in order to enable them benefit
51

WOMEN AND ENGINEERING IN N IGERIA: T OWARDS I MPROVED POLICY I NITIATIVES AND I NCREASED F EMALE PARTICIPATION
from networking. APWEN also intends to combat discrimination against female engineers in
employment through awareness educational programmes. This will portray women as more dedicatedand painstaking in decision-making.

52

Chapter Five
Case Study of Developed Countries
The United Kingdom
The United Kingdom as Chivers (in Michel, 1988) points out, has had its own poor record of women’s
participation in technological positions, at all levels. This was despite efforts made by the Women’s’Engineering Society (WES) formed in the 1920s to support women interested in the profession.
Despite its achievement, the United Kingdom is still having its own fair share of under-representationof women in engineering. However, the late 1970s saw increasing attention paid to amelioration of
the problem. Steps taken so far (though not exhaustive), include the activities of the Engineering
Industry Training Board (EITB).
The EITB was set up as a statutory body to take care of training needs of the engineering industry.
In the 1970s the EITB found that girls with interest in mathematics seemed to be a major source of
untapped potential for technical training. It thus developed a pilot programme for 15-16 year old girls
to take up technician trainee posts in industry. This was known as the Girl Technician Scheme. As
reported by Chivers (1988), the scheme was not as successful as expected. It however revealed thatthe education system was hostile to girls. Other programmes implemented by the EITB included theone-week pilot course for girls aged 17 years, who are interested in engineering. Costs were borne
by EITB, and a national publicity campaign was launched. It’s success led to the introduction of the
programme in nine other universities across the country.
Other approaches adopted to attract girls to engineering included:•
Organization of information days.
•
Mounting of school visits programmes by women engineers.
•
Provision of incentives like the Engineering Award Scheme for women with with the provisionof a scholarship of £500 a year to women who wished to study engineering.
•
Introduction of degree courses which combine technical studies with management studies.
These courses produced graduates who could become industrial managers. The courses
include environment engineering and materials engineering.
•Formation of more student branches of the Womens’ Engineering Society.
Webster (1989) reviewed some of the schemes developed in Britain over the decade prior to 1989
to redress the problem. The schemes were concerned with addressing gender relations at work andwomen’s marginalization in the work place, and how to address women’s exclusion from technologies
and processes of technological change.

53

WOMEN AND ENGINEERING IN N IGERIA: T OWARDS I MPROVED POLICY I NITIATIVES AND I NCREASED F EMALE PARTICIPATION
The measures include:•
Designing crèches and career break schemes to overcome women’s general disadvantages
arising from their domestic responsibilities.
•
Adoption of women’s training officers.
•
Establishing of assertive training programmes.
•
Development of strong female “role models”.
Others include “education-based” and “industry-based” schemes designed to address women’s
exclusion from technological change as well as equip them with technological skills. Such schemes
include the Girls into Science and Technology (GIST) and Girls and Technology Education (GATE).
The GIST project tried to effect changes in the science curriculum, to offer teaching materials andcareer advice. It also introduced school visits by women in non-traditional careers. Other interventions
include:•The Open University, along with other higher educational institutions, to run flexible distancelearning programme to enable women with industrial skills to return to work after a break.
•Companies and industrial training boards developed scholarships and grant schemes alongwith open learning centres.
•
Trade unions like BIFU and NALCO collaborated with employers to raise women’s careerawareness and make technology accessible to them.
•
The Engineering Council and the Equal Opportunities Commission at the end of 1983
joined together and designated 1984 as WISE (Women in Science and Engineering) year in
the United Kingdom. This brought about increased effort by institutions of learning and the
local industries to organize local activities to attract women into engineering.

Efforts to Combat the Problem of Female Retention
Several studies as reported by Swarbrick (1984), particularly the career survey by the Department ofIndustry (DOI) and the Women’s Engineering Society (WES) had suggested that female engineers in
the United Kingdom found it difficult to combine engineering careers with family commitments. They
also found that experienced women engineers who wish to return after several years off work would
need retraining. Thus, the Funiston Committee recommended distance-learning methods as aready means for courses to be brought to the student at their place of work.

The Case of the United States of America
Engineering Undergraduate Education in the United States of America
A review of the situation in the United States also showed that things were not too favourable there.
Davis, et al (1996) highlighted Vetters’ (1994) report that the number of bachelor’s degrees awardedin the natural sciences and engineering (NS/E) have been dropping for both men and women, froma high of 214,000 in 1986 to 160,600 in 1991. This was a 25 percent drop in five years.
The National Research Council (1994) reported that although women comprised 16 percent of
the U.S. scientific and engineering (S&E) labour force in 1988, they only represented 12.3 percent(roughly 400,000) of the scientists and engineers employed in industry that year.
54

ATPS W ORKING PAPER N O. 37
For the female graduating class, the proportion of NS/E bachelor’s degree fell from 12.3 percent
in 1986 to 9.1 percent in 1991, although the percentage in social and behavioural sciences saw asteady rise. Tables 46 to 49 reflect this.
Table 46: Associate Degrees Conferred By US Institutions (1990-91)
Discipline
Engineering
Engineering Technologies

Men
2,192
44,948

Women
268
4,689

Total
2,460
49,637% Women
10.8
9.4

5-year change-53-15

Source: U.S. Department of Education cited in The Chronicle of Higher Education (1993), p. A25
Table 47: Bachelor’s Degrees Conferred by US Institutions (1990-91)
Discipline
Engineering
Engineering Technologies

Men
Women Total% Women52,124 9,508 61,632 15.4
15,783 1,449 17,232 4.4

5-year change-19-12

Source: U.S. Department of Education cited in The Chronicle of Higher Education (1993), p.A25
Table 48: Masters Degrees Conferred by US Institutions (1990-91)
Discipline
Engineering
Engineering Technologies

Men
20,635795

Women Total
3,349
23,984
180975% Women
14.0
18.4

5-year change+14+62

Source: U.S. Department of Education cited in The Chronicle of Higher Education (1993), p.A25
Table 49: Doctoral Degrees Conferred by US Institutions (1990-91)
Discipline
Engineering
Engineering Technologies

Men
4,778
9

Women Total
484
5,262
1
10

% Women
9.2
10.0

5-year change+55
0

Source: U.S. Department of Education cited in The Chronicle of Higher Education (1993), p. A25

Attitude of Industry and Employers
The National Research Council (New York Times, 1994) reported that women working as scientists
and engineers were making little progress in breaking into industry, and that the companies were toblame. As at 1994, women made up 45 percent of the work force, but only 12 percent of the scientists
and engineers working in industry. However, the research council committee in 1994 stated in its
report that women must contend with sexist attitudes and unequal pay as companies were doing little
to help them juggle career and family.
55

WOMEN AND ENGINEERING IN N IGERIA: T OWARDS I MPROVED POLICY I NITIATIVES AND I NCREASED F EMALE PARTICIPATION
However, some major companies in the US embarked on the following programmes among
others:•Sponsorship and mentorship to recruit women•
Publicized job openings•
Equal salaries•
Developed maternal leave policies•
Frequently held meetings to gather feedback from female scientists
In terms of wages paid, female engineers had a lot of complaints (Business Week, 1989). As
reported, studies show that although men and women begin at comparable levels, women earn 25
percent less than men with similar experience after being out of school for 10 years.
The National Research Council (an arm of the National Academy of Sciences) found that otherfactors served to discourage women from the field. The report stated that: “The median salary offemale scientists with bachelor’s degrees and up to two years’ experience was 73 percent that of theirmale colleagues in 1990, $21,000 vs $29,500. Those with doctorates made 88 percent of themedian male salary, $35,500 vs $40,400...” (New York Times, 1994)
The following problems were also highlighted:•
Companies make it difficult for women to learn about job openings because scientific jobs
are often filled through “good old boy” networks.
•
Parternalism to women by older male members of the profession.
•
Unwillingness of corporation to accommodate women with children. They fail to provide
quality day care and flexible work schedules.
•
Absence of regular re-entry provisions.
•
Lack of interest in promoting women’s participation through the provision of scholarships,
mentorships, publicized job openings, equal salaries, etc.

Experience of Female Engineers in the United States of America
Teachers’ Negative Sensitization
Iva M. Wilson (Business Week, 1989) an electrical engineer teacher suggested that she would bebetter off learning to cook.
Obstacles Hindering Women in High Technological or Male Dominated Arenas
These include:•
Lack of role models, mentors and contacts•
Conflict with family responsibilities•“Glass ceilings”•
Societal myths which are still strong about what girls can do.
Betty M. Vetter (Business Week, 1989) highlighted that “Women who try to get into fields consideredmacho such as engineering, still face real discrimination”.
Patricia McGrath (Business Week, 1989) said “females aren’t considered as seriously as men.”

56

ATPS W ORKING PAPER N O. 37
Wage Gap
Bette Woody (reported in Business Week, 1989; 87) found that female engineers complained thatthey were often shunted to less desirable assignments because male counterparts resist working
with them on teams. This ultimately affected their wage and promotion potentials since “engineeringand design teams are proving grounds for technical managers.”
Suzanne Jennisches, acting President of the Society of Women Engineers was reported as statingthat as time goes on, the disparity in earnings between men and women with similar experiencegrow.
Coping and Survival Strategies of Female Engineers
Many found that sexism and lack of advancement were the major problems that they had to copewith. Female engineers said that they circumvented some of the barriers by launching companies of
their own. Of those reported by Business Week, some like Balaz started her company after reachinga dead end in the semi-conductor industry. She found that since then, men put her under a different
scrutiny and recognized the move as daring. This as reported helped to reduce discrimination put intheir way. Others were determined not to allow prejudice to get them down. Others were of theopinion that choices have to be made.
Such choices may mean under achievement professionally if a female engineer decided to havea family. However, as others found it, such choices do not have to impose final limits on a woman’s
career (Science, 1993: 401). This is because the woman’s career can progress as the children growup.
Other women are benefiting from “family-friendly policies”. Such policies include:•
A day off for mothers with sick children.
•
Optional unpaid leave of up to a year.
•
Generous maternity leave.
•Job-sharing options.
•Part-time work.
•
Flex time.
However, the value of whatever policy is made available depends on the implementing supervisor.
Alternative but personal strategies adopted by some women engineers include the cooperation of
their spouses who share “fifty-fifty”. Others stay up late or employ baby-sitters who stay late. Otherswith predictable hours make use of day-care centres.
Women and College Academe
The American Association of University Women (1989) in their release gave the following statistics:•
In the 1964-65 academic year, 38 percent of college students were female with only 10.8
percent of doctorates awarded to women.
•
In 1986 more than half (52 percent) of college students were female with 35.4 percent ofdoctorates awarded to women.
•
In 1967-72, 16.7 percent of new faculty members were female.
•In 1975-80, the figure increased to 24.5 percent.

57

WOMEN AND ENGINEERING IN N IGERIA: T OWARDS I MPROVED POLICY I NITIATIVES AND I NCREASED F EMALE PARTICIPATION•

In 1988-89, only 49 percent of female faculty held tenure compared to 71 percent of malefaculty. Also, by this time, women’s average salaries were still lower than men’s at every rank
and in all fields. Women with tenure were also concentrated in the lower ranks.
In addition, in 1991, engineering had the lowest women share of Ph.D (Davis et al, 1996).

Women Engineering at the Ohio State University*
The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio

The women in engineering programme at the Ohio State University was established in 1979
in order to increase the participation of women in the engineering profession. The programme
concentrates on recruiting, retaining, and counselling women as well as establishing close
relationships with industry. The women in engineering programme actively recruit womenstudents in a variety of ways. “Day on Campus” and “Weekend for Women” provide junior andsenior high school women the opportunity to visit campus and spend a day attending classes
with a woman engineering student as well as staying overnight in a living-cum-learning
residence.
Each April, enrolled women engineering students call those prospective women students who
have been accepted to Ohio State and have expressed an interest in studying engineering toanswer any questions the prospective students might have. During the summer, luncheons
are held for women attending engineering programmes such as Summer Engineering
Experience for Women, Computers in Engineering, and Summer Academy. In addition, firstyear merit scholarships sponsored by companies and engineering departments are awarded
to qualified women. The programme maintains an “open door” policy so that students’ problems
can be addressed as they arise. A mentor programme assigns an upper-class student to eachfirst-quarter student. A special letter is sent to the parents of first-quarter students enlisting their
help in their daughter’s initial adjustment to life as an engineering student. Quarterly newsletters
are sent to all enrolled women students informing them of special events and opportunities. A
course in which women engineers share their collegiate and professional experiences andoffer their insights into the profession is offered annually. Outstanding students are recognized
for their academic and extra-curricular achievements at an annual recognition dinner attended
by corporate representatives and faculty.
*

Culled from the Internet Explorer, courtesy The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio.

How Cornell University Helps Undergraduate Women in Engineering
Academic Assistance(a) Tutoring: Free tutoring is offered to help students keep up and get ahead in key freshmanand sophomore courses.
(b) Workshops: These are academic excellence workshops that include supplementary
workshops for introductory calculus or physics. A cooperative approach to learning that has
proved successful on campuses across the country is adopted.
(c) Counseling: Assistance offered includes academic advising, encouragement, availability ofsomeone to talk to, or personal counseling on any issue.
58

ATPS W ORKING PAPER N O. 37
Networking(a) Society of Women Engineers (SWE): Students are encouraged to join SWE, which provides
opportunities for social and academic networking. This provides the avenue for the
dissemination of information about engineering, recruitment of students and professional
assistance to students.
(b) Dinners with Women Students and Faculty Members: Under the sponsorship of women’s
programmes, dinners are given by the engineering departments. These give students anopportunity to interact with women undergraduate and graduate students and faculty
members who in turn can help students to navigate academic environments as well as
explore career opportunities.
(c) Career Planning Seminars: A one-credit seminar for junior and senior women is organized.
Corporate professionals and faculty and staff members participate in class discussion, on
aspects of the transition from student to practising engineer and other issues of interest to
women.
Facilitating Communication(a) Newsletter: In particular, the newsletter, Women in Engineering News is published by the
Women’s Program several times a year.
(b) Student Advisory Board: Students are encouraged to become members. Membership allows
such students to advise the college on how to tailor programmes so that they will better serve
the needs of women in engineering.
(c) Faculty Education: Women’s programmes promote various activities to assist the faculty
become more sensitive to women students and to better meet their needs.
In particular, a workshop developed in conjunction with the Cornell Interactive Theatre Ensemble
is helping faculty understand sexism, both in and outside classrooms.
Steps To Promote Engineering Among Women(a) Use of Audio-Visual Materials: She’s the Engineer, a video which shows young women inhigh school how they can use their talents in math and science to pursue a career inengineering was recorded. This is made available on order from the Office of Engineering
Admissions for a $7.00 shipping-and-handling fee.
(b) Summer Program: In this programme, the participants, who essentially are high school girls
are given a chance to experience engineering. They are allowed to work on practicalprojects under the guidance of Cornell faculty members.
(c) Expanding your Horizons in Math, Science and Engineering: Under this programme, graduate
students from across the university present a one-day programme for girls in junior highschool. A companion workshop helps parents learn how to support their daughters’ interestin math and science.

59Chapter Six
Discussion, Recommendations and Conclusions
Discussion
The results of this study have averred that female participation in engineering, particularly civil andmechanical engineering, has been very poor in Nigeria and in the United States of America andBritain. While universities and other bodies in the developed countries make special efforts to attract,
recruit and retrain women, only sporadic effort is taken by the Association for Professional WomenEngineers in Nigeria. Universities and the National Universities Commission have not issued any
special releases on admission policy to attract the female gender to engineering.
At universities generally, students with poor academic standing and who have demonstrated
inability to master the content of their studies are put on probation and later asked to withdraw if there
is no improvement. Most often, cohort advisers recommend a change of course to such students.
More and more, the under-representation of females in engineering has come to be seen as
needing drastic solutions. Women now see it as injustice towards them generally, and are now
clamouring through special programmes under the Family Support Programmes to ensure thatwomen are given the opportunity and support to get into technical jobs as well as high-powered
positions.
It seems, however, that women’s role as wives and mothers cannot be changed. These havebeen recognized everywhere and even by feminists. Thus, feminists themselves argue that “women
can because of their different upbringing, and as long as this upbringing remains different, makespecific contributions to technology, from which all of society could benefit” (Everts & Oost, 1986).
Thus, there has to be introduced certain arrangements to facilitate more active and increased
participation of women in engineering. Processes at the Nigerian National level should specificallyattract women to this field.

Recommendations
It is evident that intervening measures have to be taken. It is hoped that the following will serve as
guidelines for the actions to be implemented.
1. As has been found in developed countries, and in this study, teachers’ attitudes to girls inscience and technology can be crucial to determining whether they will continue theirstudies in the area. Teachers should be trained to relate to all their students. They should
be made to realise the importance and urgency of dispelling of sexism from their teaching
attitudes.

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ATPS W ORKING PAPER N O. 37
2.

3.
4.
5.

6.

7.
8.

The role of guidance counsellors in Nigeria should be reviewed. These counsellors should
be encouraged to pay particular attention to the problems of girls in science and technology
classes. Guidance and counselling units should be introduced in each faculty of engineeringor technology in the Nigerian universities to take care of problems of students in general andfemale engineering students in particular.
More and more women engineering lecturers should be invited and attracted to teachengineering at university. This would eliminate some problems faced by girls.
The idea of a women’s university already proposed in Nigeria should be brought to fruition
quickly. The university should lay emphasis on the production of female engineers andtechnologists.
There is still a lot of room for promotion of awareness in the society. Nation-wide campaigns
should be made now for the training of female engineers. There has in the past, been
campaigns for general education of women. Presently, the campaign should channel thefemale training in engineering fields. Such campaigns will also be targeted towards
disabusing the minds of people from labeling engineering “masculine.”
The government, through the Family Support Programme, and women’s professional bodies
should launch systematic campaigns to enlighten families on the importance of preparing
their daughters for the engineering profession. Such campaigns would reduce the sexist
stereotyping of children at a very young age, and thus create a stable background for positivesocialization of females. With positive socialization, more and more girls would naturally beattracted to the science subjects needed to enter the engineering profession.
Textbook writers should be penalized whenever they present engineering as a masculine
profession.
As follow-up, legislation should be used to prevent discrimination in staff hiring practices.
This supports the view of Rathgeber (1995) that “...governments have emphasized theimportance of S&T policy without recognizing the inherent gender biases in their own systems.”
Employers should be encouraged to hire women engineers and make special provisions
for their existence in their establishments. There should be crèches for young children of
female engineers. (As Davis (1996) argues, some of these barriers would be relatively
simple to remove if those concerned want them removed.

Suggestions to Female Engineers•
It will be necessary to time pregnancies so that one does not miss out on family life.
•
Female Engineers can team up and start their own businesses, which can, in turn, introduce
policies that are favourable to them.
•
The balance between family life and career is always a knotty issue, particularly for female
engineers who have to be on site.

Summary and Conclusions
This study has attempted to generate data on institutions that are representative of others in order toreveal the rate of participation of women in engineering. The data presented are more than adequate
to enable the researcher to reach conclusions. The study showed and confirmed the low rate of61

WOMEN AND ENGINEERING IN N IGERIA: T OWARDS I MPROVED POLICY I NITIATIVES AND I NCREASED F EMALE PARTICIPATION
enrolment and graduation of women in engineering. It also revealed practices in institutions and inindustry that discourage women from staying in engineering. Though societal beliefs and practices
seem entrenched, concrete efforts should be made to alleviate the barriers.
The investigation of the various questions posed in the study led to the following conclusions:•
There are definite differences in the attitude of male engineering lecturers to male andfemale students.
•
Universities in Nigeria still maintain data in ways that severely limit the usefulness of the data.
This in turn makes it almost impossible for the universities and even the National Universities
Commission to note and in turn make changes in policies affecting students, and in particular
their gender.
•
Female engineering students lack role models in form of female university lecturers.
•
Girls do not like the long periods of training that engineering requires.
•
Women in engineering often experience prejudices and antagonisms from their male bosses,
colleagues and surbordinates.
•
Generally, female engineers are not favourably considered when it comes to employment.
•
Nigerian universities and the National Universities Commission do not have any programme
for the attraction of either female students or female lecturers to the faculties of engineering.
It is worthwhile concluding that more girls should be attracted, retained through positive
interventions, and encouraged to practice the profession at the end of the day through the cooperative
effort of all members of society. Examples of developed countries and their universities would have to
be followed. Generally, the society should see it as extremely important to recognize that there is aneed for women’s participation in engineering. It is then that the stage can be set for positive policy
making geared towards full participation of both men and women in all fields of engineering.

62

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