Examining Gender (In-)Equality in German Engineering: Considering the Importance of Interest, Perceptions, and Choice

Germany leads Europe in producing and publishing STEM scholarship. We consider how Germany’s higher education prepares its STEM workforce with a focus on ways gender inequality persists in undergraduate engineering education. In this chapter, we analyse panel data from the German Centre for Higher Education Research and Science Studies (DZHW) to examine the interests, perceptions, and choices of women who ultimately decide not to study engineering. We identify reasons why women may choose not to pursue engineering education and offer implications for recruiting women into engineering. Finally, we highlight promising policies and practices to attract women into STEM.