Introducing a gender perspective in engineering degrees, a case of study in an Energy Markets course

Abstract

[EN] Although being mandatory since 2007, Spanish universities have not fully introduced a gender perspective in their degrees. This becomes even more critical in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) fields, where non biased information and objective knowledge is presupposed. Nevertheless, different studies reveal that the absence of role female models may be one of the reasons to lower engagement of women in STM degrees. In this paper, different techniques to approach a gender perspective in the engineering field are described. The introduction of a gender perspective activity in the course Energy Markets from the degree in Energy Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Valencia is presented and analysed. This activity is evaluated alongside the students through a series of semi structured questionnaires. Moreover, the situation and student expectations of the inclusion gender perspective in the whole degree is critically discussed with the valuable inputs of students.