Creating more space for gender balance

An engineering degree opens doors to a profession with high status and great societal importance. Engineers solve challenges across a wide range of disciplines known as STEM subjects – an acronym for science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Despite the considerable academic diversity within engineering, the gender distribution on these programmes remains highly uneven, with a low proportion of female students.

What can we do to change this situation? UiT is a partner in the research project STEM Girls: Path to Success in Engineering, which aims to provide answers. The project examines the extent to which cultural, social, educational and gender-related factors may act as barriers to recruitment into engineering.

Portrettfoto — Unn-Doris Bæck, Professor at UiT’s Department of Teacher Education and Pedagogy. Foto: Kim Bredesen / UiT

Many factors are involved

Unn-Doris Bæck, Professor of Educational Sociology at the Department of Teacher Education and Pedagogy, is among those analysing the data generated by the research project.

‘In Norway, we probably see ourselves as one of the most gender-equal countries in Europe, but the figures show that this is not the case,’ she says.

She points out that, at the other end of the scale, there is a substantial predominance of women in the health sector and among those choosing medical studies.

‘The paradox is that if you choose a healthcare profession or nursing, you may end up with a working situation that is difficult to combine with family life, compared with other professions. Engineering roles are often much better adapted to family life,’ she notes.

While there are major gender differences, some factors also pull in the opposite direction.

“There is no single clear trend, but rather a number of conflicting developments. It is difficult to point to one specific factor that has led to the situation we see today. Norms, habits, gender stereotypes, pay and family circumstances all influence the career choices young people make. There are many factors that affect what a future employment situation will look like,” she adds.

Early signs of gender differences

According to Bæck, gender differences in career choices begin to emerge as early as lower secondary school.

‘This is probably something we are not aware of. There has been an increase in the number of girls choosing science subjects, but this applies only to a particular part of these subjects. If we look at some STEM-related optional subjects in lower secondary school, there is, at any rate, a very clear predominance of boys.’

She believes that the same pattern can be seen in upper secondary school.

‘Girls who enjoy science subjects often choose mathematics, chemistry, medicine or subjects related to the health sector,’ she adds.

Engineering is about helping people and being of benefit to society. This is an important factor in efforts to recruit women into engineering.

Causes and motivational factors

To investigate the reasons for gender differences at lower secondary level, the researchers involved in the project have launched workshops for 500 girls in Spain, Norway and Lithuania. The workshops will emphasise that engineering can be a creative, socially relevant and professionally attractive field.

The data and knowledge gathered from the workshops will subsequently be collected and analysed by the European Observatory for Women in Engineering. This will help identify factors that may explain why gender differences still persist.

‘We are trying to find out which levers we can use to encourage girls to think more in terms of STEM subjects. Could it be a lack of confidence in science subjects? Is it about attitudes they bring with them from home? Is it related to conditions at school? Can we do anything about it?’ Bæck asks.

Differences between the partner countries

Paqui Gomez-Rico Encarnacion Gimeno Nieves, Professor at the University of Alicante, is the project coordinator for STEM Girls.

She points out that a shared feature of the partner countries is that women are highly represented in natural sciences, health subjects and life sciences. In Spain, the proportion of women is highest among those taking a degree in biomedical engineering.

‘Engineering is about helping people and being of benefit to society. This is an important factor in efforts to recruit women into engineering,’ she stresses.

She adds that there may be significant differences between the partner countries in some areas when it comes to women’s participation.

‘In Italy, many women choose to become engineers. In recent years, we have seen clear growth in recruitment to ICT in Norway and Lithuania. The opposite is true in Spain, including civil engineering. Women there do not have the same understanding of themselves as in other countries and have limited knowledge of what engineering is. They know well what science is, but are less aware of the practical value of engineering,’ she says.

STEM Girls: Path to Success in Engineering

A research project aiming to increase interest in engineering and STEM subjects among girls and young women.
The project examines the factors that act as barriers to more people choosing engineering degrees.
The project runs for three years, from 2025 to 2028, and is funded by Erasmus+.
The European Observatory for Women in Engineering analyses and shares comparable data from the research project among the partner universities.

Project partners

University of Alicante, Spain
The Arctic University of Norway – UiT, Norway
Vilnius Gediminas Technical University – VILNIUS TECH, Lithuania

Participating educational institutions

IES San Vicente, Spain
Tromsø International School, Norway
Vilnius Engineering Lyceum, Lithuania

The consortium also includes

CESIE, Italy
Technology company NTT DATA Spain
Non-governmental organisation InnovaEquity, Spain

Mentors and role models

STEM Girls aims to promote new educational policy measures that can lead to structural changes in schools. This can be achieved by developing methods and resources that support girls’ engagement with STEM subjects.

Such measures are being tested in the research project through mentoring programmes, in which the career paths of female engineers are made more visible, including by highlighting female role models.

Around 250 teachers, family members and careers advisers will also receive support to identify gender-based bias and promote inclusive learning environments. In this context, UiT collaborates with the Northern Norway Science Centre, which trains teachers to run workshops in schools.

Bæck believes there is a shortage of female role models in STEM subjects, and that their contribution should be highlighted to a much greater extent.

‘We saw the impact that astronaut Jannicke Mikkelsen had. There was an increase in the number of applications for science disciplines. There are also steadily more role models among women who have made choices other than those that were common in their time. In that respect, something has definitely changed,’ she says.

At the same time, she sees greater opportunities to influence attitudes through social media.

‘It is no longer simply a matter of following in our parents’ footsteps. What becomes normalised also matters greatly, as does becoming used to seeing women in the workplace,’ Bæck states.

A possible snowball effect

Nieves points out that engineering can be attractive to women, as the profession generally offers high salaries. This may help to narrow the gender pay gap. According to her, another positive effect of increased female participation may be that gender balance creates more scope for new solutions and better workplace design.

‘One example is the design of the first seatbelt. Only men were involved at the time. For women, however, it was not the best design, because we had difficulty positioning the belt across the chest. In such a context, clear physical differences can play a part,’ she says.

Bæck believes that progress in counteracting an unbalanced gender distribution has so far been rather slow, but that developments are not necessarily predictable.

‘For me, it is important not to paint too bleak a picture. A snowball effect may arise if it becomes common for girls and young women to think that they can pursue an engineering degree. This could also happen as women become increasingly visible in workplaces across Norway and Europe,’ she concludes.

Bredesen, Kim kim.bredesen@uit.no Rådgiver

Published: 11.09.26 09:49 Updated: 11.09.26 11:20

International cooperation Natural Sciences Technology