Experiences of girls in a fabrication engineering environment

Abstract

The article reports on an effort to address the issue of inequality in girls’ and women’s access to science, engineering and technology (SET) education and careers through raising an awareness on SET among school girls in South Africa. Secondary school girls were exposed to a hands-on rapid-prototyping environment of a fabrication laboratory with the aim of imparting knowledge and familiarity with the nature and possibilities of the engineering field. The girls were exposed to various skills including electronics, computer-aided design, media ability, management, team-work, and problem-solving, peer-mentoring and communicating ideas. Exposure to technology enhanced the girls’ confidence in being able to handle technology-related tasks.