Interest in, and characterization of, managerial and technical career paths among second-year women engineering students

Patterns of intra-occupational gender segregation have been found in engineering industry, and these patterns may pose challenges for women, currently and historically. We explore the career path interests and characterizations of women engineering students toward technical and managerial paths in industry that may be precursors to their eventual choice of career path once they enter the profession. We conducted semi-interviews with 30 second-year women engineering students in three majors. We applied an iterative thematic analysis approach to explore and compare career path interests and attitudes within- and across-majors. Analyses generated four key findings: (1) the majority of students expressed an interest in the managerial career path; (2) students associated the managerial career path with preferences for collaboration and holistic work, applying dual skills, and opportunities to have relational and organizational impact; (3) students associated the technical career path with preferences for challenge, applying specialized technical skills, and societal impact through technological innovation; and (4) students in majors with higher percentages of women were more likely to express interest in the managerial career path. Our work suggests that women have clear interests and preconceptions about engineering career paths early in their undergraduate education. These findings may hold implications for women students’ eventual career decisions and the patterns of intra-occupational gender segregation in engineering industry.