Gender differences in first-year students’ expectations towards a new engineering multidisciplinary curriculum

Research on engineering first-year students' expectations and perceptions is important to understand what influences interest, achievement and persistence. This is particularly relevant when assessing the impact of new engineering education curricula. This paper reports a quantitative analysis of a pre-degree survey targeting students' expectations at the very beginning of the new Integrated Engineering Programme, which spans across the whole UCL Faculty of Engineering Sciences. Of a cohort of approximately 700 enrolled students, 309 completed the survey. Results suggest that, on graduation, both male and female students expect to have similar opportunities, such as to be able to contribute positively to the world. They also share identical learning expectations and educational experiences regarding their time studying engineering. However, results also suggest that female students were more aware of the societal impact of engineering, and less confident in their engineering specific skills.