Within the context of socio-economic transformations in the Arab Gulf and the development of knowledge-based economies in the region, this faculty-student collaborative study investigates the experiences of female engineering students in Qatar at Texas A&M University at Qatar (TAMUQ). This project looks at personal experiences and institutional strengths and challenges –at university and industry levels, so as to present recommendations on how to better support, encourage, and prepare our female students for working in engineering-related careers. By examining TAMUQ students’ experiences within engineering, this research aims to contribute to the scholarly literature pertaining to women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) in the Middle East, and particularly in the Gulf region.
This mixed-method study draws on data collected in spring 2017. It includes anonymous online surveys completed by TAMUQ’s female students. Additionally, it draws on a series of focus groups with female students in order to examine the participants’ perspectives on their academic and social experiences in relation to the university’s institutional strengths and challenges in supporting female students for working in engineering-related careers.
Sara Hillman is an Assistant Professor of English as a Second Language (ESL) in the Liberal Arts Program at Texas A&M University at Qatar. She has extensive experience teaching and researching Arabic-speaking university students. As an applied linguist, her main areas of research include second language learning, sociolinguistics, and discourse analysis. She is particularly interested in language learner identities, language practices, and language attitudes.
Ghada Salama is an Instructional Associate Professor at Texas A&M in the Chemical Engineering Program at Qatar. She teaches freshman Engineering introductory courses, and chemical engineering courses of different levels . She is a strong advocate and believer of student engagement and conducting interactive classes to support and encourage the learning process. She has published and presented in numerous conferences sharing her experiences in engineering education.
Emilio Ocampo Eibenschutz is a Research Associate at the Liberal Arts Program at Texas A&M University at Qatar. His research areas include migration, identity formation, and translocalism, with a particular interdisciplinary interest in the histories of the Persian Gulf and the wider Indian Ocean. Emilio has extensive experience studying and researching in the Persian Gulf and has conducted fieldwork in the wider MENA region, Central Asia, and East Africa. He will start a doctoral program at Cornell University's History Department next fall.
Saly Awadh is currently a sophomore studying Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University at Qatar.
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