| Peer-Reviewed

Engineering a Woman: Marketing Opportunities and Challenges in India

Received: 6 February 2017     Accepted: 17 February 2017     Published: 2 March 2017
Views:       Downloads:
Abstract

Engineering plays a key role in supporting the growth and development of a country’s economy as well as in improving the quality of life for citizens. Most of developed countries witnessed economic growth with the contribution of women in engineering field. In developing countries like India women remained under-utilized resource. Women in engineering are probably the single best investment that can be made in the developing world. There is clearly room for improvement – not only in recruiting women into engineering, but also in retaining and promoting those women who wish and do enter the profession. This study was designed to investigate a perception and determination of undergraduate women towards accessing Engineering Education. The study has highlighted women’s perceptions and experiences on accessing engineering education through institute’s Marketing Mix strategies which enables women to take up strategic positions to enjoy success in engineering education and career. Findings of this study revealed that women students in engineering are better satisfied and act of referring services/program to others is higher than men students in terms of numbers for a particular set of marketing mix applied to gender. A qualitative research survey through a structured questionnaire for the students who are studying or have recently completed their engineering education from reputed engineering institutes affiliated to the North Maharashtra University, Jalgaon, India was conducted. The study discloses women’s approach to engineering education in terms of marketing mix; program, price, place, promotion, people, physical evidence and process. Women tended to rate most the marketing criteria as having a higher level of importance than men. Women needed more communal support while making decision making of selection of engineering education. The survey is delimited to the engineering education belonging to North Maharashtra University, Jalgaon and Khandesh region, a rural part of India. Findings of the study will be useful for the institutes and direct and indirect service providers of engineering education in developing a communication program and should be utilized and integrated into all aspects of the marketing program to attract women in engineering.

Published in American Journal of Management Science and Engineering (Volume 2, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajmse.20170201.12
Page(s) 11-22
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2017. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Gender, Women, Engineering Education, Selection, Marketing Services, India

References
[1] World Health Organization (2002). "Gender and Reproductive Rights: Working Definitions". Retrieved 15 November 2012.
[2] ELSON, D. (2000) Progress of the World’s Women 2000. UNIFEM Biennial Report (New York, UN Development Fund for Women).
[3] The Hindu. "Rajya Sabha passes Women's Reservation Bill". Chennai, India: 10th March 2010. Retrieved 25 August 2010.
[4] Jayapalan (2001). Indian society and social institutions. Atlantic Publishers & Distri. p. 145. ISBN 978-81-7156-925-0.
[5] National Resource Center for Women. "Women in History". Archived from the original on 2009-06-19. Retrieved 24 December 2006.
[6] Assessing Women in Engineering (AWE) Project 2005. Family Influence. AWE Research Overviews. https://www.engr.psu.edu/awe/misc/ARPs/Family_03_17_05.pdf.
[7] Hanushek, Eric. "Schooling, Gender Equity, and Economic Outcomes." In Girls' education in the 21st century: gender equality, empowerment, and economic growth. Washington DC: World Bank, 2008. 23-40.
[8] Singh, Nandita. "Higher Education for Women in India--Choices and Challenges." Forum on Public Policy Online. Vol. 2007. No. 1. Oxford Round Table. 406 West Florida Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801, 2007.
[9] Budhwar, P. (2001) Doing business in India, Thunderbird International Business Review, 43(4), pp. 549–568.
[10] Kulkarni, S. S. (2002) Women and professional competency – a survey report, Indian Journal of Training and Development, XXXII(2), April–June, pp. 11–16.
[11] Nath, G. (2000) Gently shattering the glass ceiling: experiences of Indian women managers, Women in Management Review, 15(1), pp. 44–52.
[12] PAWAN S. BUDHWAR, DEBI S. SAINI & JYOTSNA BHATNAGAR (2011). Women in Management in the New Economic Environment: The Case of India. Asia Pacific Business Review. Vol. 11, No. 2, 179–193.
[13] Ganjapure, Vaibhav (2008). Women on top in HSC Results. Times of India. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/Women-on-top-in-HSC-results/articleshow/3110351.cms.
[14] Times of India. "In a first, girls among IIT entrance test toppers - Times Of India". Articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com. 2013-06-22. Retrieved 2013-10-06.
[15] Royal Academy of Engineering (2016). Engineering and economic growth: a global view. A report by Centre for Economics and Business Research for the Royal Academy of Engineering. London. September 2016.
[16] Jones, Brett D.; Ruff, Chloe; Paretti, Marie C. (2013). "The impact of engineering identification and stereotypes on undergraduate women's achievement and persistence in engineering". Social Psychology of Education An International Journal.
[17] Census of India. "Population" (PDF). Government of India (2011).
[18] DNA. "Gujarat increases women's reservation to 33% in government jobs". dna. 14 October 2014. Retrieved 2015-09-03.
[19] Ministry of Human Resource Development, All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE). http://aishe.gov.in/aishe/reports. AISHE 2014-15, p-3, 13-14.
[20] All India Council for technical Education (AICTE, New Delhi); http://www.aicte-india.org/dashboard/pages/graphs.php.
[21] wikipedia.com. Women in Engineering. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_engineering.
[22] Singh, K. (2003) Women managers: perception vs. performance analysis, Journal of Management Research, 3(1), pp. 31–42.
[23] India Skill Report - 2017: https://wheebox.com/india-skills-report-2017.htm. p:22-24.
[24] MIRIAM E. DAVID, STEPHEN J. BALL, JACKIE DAVIES & DIANE REAY (2003). Gender Issues in Parental Involvement in Student Choices of Higher Education. Gender And Education Vol. 15, Iss. 1, 2003.
[25] Crow, S. M., Fok, L. Y., Hartman, S. J., & Payne, D. M. (1991). Gender and values: What is the impact on decision making? Sex Roles, 25, 255–268.
[26] Tashakkori, A. (1993). Gender, ethnicity, and the structure of self-esteem: An attitude theory approach. Journal of Social Psychology, 133, 479–488.
[27] Saucier, D. M., & Elias, L. J. (2001). Lateral and sex differences in manual gesture during conversation. Laterality, 6(3), 239–245.
[28] Meyers-Levy, J. (1988). Influence of sex roles on judgment. Journal of Consumer Research, 14(4), 522–530.
[29] Ivy, Jonathan. "A new higher education marketing mix: the 7Ps for MBA marketing." International Journal of educational management 22.4 (2008): 288-299.
[30] Gajić, Jelena. "Importance of marketing mix in higher education institutions." Singidunum Journal of Applied Sciences 9.1 (2012): 29-41.
[31] Brooks, L. (1988). Encouraging women’s motivations for nontraditional career and lifestyle options: A model for assessment and intervention. Journal of Career Development, 14, 223-241.
[32] Vroom, V. H. (1964). Work and motivation. New York: Wiley.
[33] Sharon Beder, 'Towards a More Representative Engineering Education', International Journal of Applied Engineering Education, vol. 5, no. 2, 1989, pp173182.
[34] Chatterjee, J., & McCarrey, M. (1989). Sex role attitudes of self and those inferred of peers, performance, and career opportunities as reported by women in nontraditional vs. traditional training programs. Sex Roles 21, 653-669.
[35] Morgan, D. L. (1988). Focus Groups as Qualitative Research. Newbury Park: SAGE Publications.
[36] Goodman, I. F., Cunningham, C. M., Lachapelle, C., Thompson, M., Bittinger, K., Brennan, R. T., & Delci, M. (2002). A comprehensive evaluation of women in engineering programs. Goodman Research Group, Inc.
[37] Dick, T. P., & Rallis, S. F. (1991). Factors and influences on high school students’ career choices. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education 22(4), 281-292.
[38] Ware, N. C., Steckler, N. A. & Leserman, J. (1985). Undergraduate women: Who chooses a science major? Journal of Higher Education 56 (1), 73-84.
[39] Tobias, S. (2000). Ideology of recruitment of women in science and math. Paper presented at the National Symposium on the Advancement of Women in Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.
[40] Sax, Linda and Harper, Casandra (2007). Origins of the Gender Gap: Pre-College and College Influences on Differences Between Men and Women. Research in Higher Education 48(6):669-694 September 2007.
[41] Phylis M. Mansfield & Jacquelyn Warwick (2006) Gender Differences in Students' and Parents' Evaluative Criteria When Selecting a College, Journal of Marketing for Higher Education, 15:2, 47-80.
[42] Jackson, L. A., Gardner, P. D., & Sullivan, L. A. (1993). Engineering persistence: past, present, and future factors and gender differences. Higher Education, 26(2), 227-246.
[43] McIlwee, J. S., & Robinson, J. G. (1992). Women in engineering: Gender, power, and workplace culture. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
[44] Jacobs, J. (1999). “Gender and the Stratification of Colleges,” The Journal of Higher Education, 70/2 (March/April), pp. 161-187.
[45] Shank, M. and Beasley, F. (1998). “Gender Effects on the University Selection Process,” Journal of Marketing for Higher Education, 8 (3), 63-71.
[46] Hayes, T., Walker, H., and Trebbi, G. (1995). “Promoting to Women: It’s Not What You Think,” in Proceedings for the Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education. Chicago, IL: American Marketing Association.
[47] Kotler, P., Fox, K. (1995) Strategic Marketing for Educational Institutions. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.
[48] Richard, M., Chebat, J., Yang, Z., & Laroche, M. (2007). Selective versus Comprehensive Processors: Gender Differences in Web Consumer Behavior. Advances in Consumer Research - NA Conference Proceedings, 34, 303303.
[49] Chodorow, N. (1974). Family structure and feminine personality. InM. Z. Rosaldo and L. Lamphere (Eds.), Women, culture, and society. Palo Alto: Stanford Univ. Press.
[50] Hodgson, R. C., & Watson, E. D. (1987). Gender-integrated management teams. Business Quarterly, 52, 68–72.
[51] Hoffman, L. W. (1972). Early childhood experiences and women’s achievement motives. Journal of Social Issues, 28, 129–155.
[52] Weller, L., Shlomi, A., & Zimont, G. (1976). Birth order, sex, and occupational interest. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 8, 45–50.
[53] Frehill, L. M. (1997). Education and occupational sex segregation: The decision to major in engineering. The Sociological Quarterly, 38(2), 225-249.
[54] Holbrook, M. B. (2006). Consumption experience, customer value, and subjective personal introspection: An illustrative photographic essay. Journal of Business Research, 59, 714–725.
[55] Seock, Y., & Bailey, L. (2008). The Influence of College Students’ Shopping Orientations and Gender Differences on Online Information Searches and Purchase Behaviours. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 32, 113121.
[56] Garbarino, E., & Strahlievitz, M. (2004). Gender differences in the perceived risk of buying online and the effects of receiving a site recommendation. Journal of Business Research, 57, 768–775.
[57] Pike & Kuh (2005). First and second-generation college students: A comparison of their engagement and intellectual development. The Journal of Higher Education. 76(3).
[58] McDaniels, C., & Gysbers, N. C. (1992). Counseling for Career Development. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
[59] Mahajan, P., Golahit, S. (2017). Encouraging Enrolments by People’s Influence; A desperate need for Technical Education Evolution. International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) – Volume-43 Number-3 -January 2017. p:130-137.
[60] Ciccocioppo, A.-L., Stewin, L. L., Madill, H. M., Montgomerie, T. C., Tovell, D. R., Armour, M.-A., & Fitzimmons, G. W. (2002). Transitional Patterns of Adolescent Females in Non-traditional Career Paths. Canadian Journal of Counseling, 36(1), 25-37.
[61] Dylan Conger and Mark C Long (2013). Women students dominating in many countries. University World News. Issue No:26. 1http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=2013022612105131.
[62] Zeldin, A. L., & Pajares, F. (2000). Against the odds: Self-efficacy beliefs of women in mathematical, scientific, and technological careers. American Educational Research Journal, 37(1), 215-246.
[63] Seymour, E., & Hewitt, N. M. (1994). Talking about leaving: Factors contributing to high attrition rates among science, mathematics, and engineering undergraduate majors: Final report to the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation on the ethnographic inquiry at seven institutions.: University of Colorado: Ethnography and Assessment Research, Bureau of Sociological Research.
[64] Sax, L. J. (1996). The dynamics of 'tokenism': How college students are affected by the proportion of women in their major. Research in Higher Education, 37(4), 389-425.
[65] Rosenkrantz, P., Vogel, P., Bee, H., Broverman, I., & Broverman, D. M. (1968). Sex-role stereotypes and self-concepts in college students. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 32, 287–295.
[66] Heejin, L., & Kumar, A. (2008). Gender and Loyalty in the Context of Mobile Services. International Journal of Mobile Communications, 6, 714728.
[67] Mahajan P. T and Golahit S. B. (2017); ONLY EDUCATION IS NOT ENOUGH: A NECESSITY OF ALL-INCLUSIVE SERVICES FOR TECHNICAL EDUCATION. Int. J. of Adv. Res. 5 (1). 1246-1253] (ISSN 2320-5407). www.journalijar.com.
[68] Bozionelos, N. (1996). Psychology of computer use: XXXIX. Prevalence of computer anxiety in British managers and professionals. Psychological Reports, 78, 995–1002.
[69] Sadker, M., Sadker, D., & Klein, S. (1991). The issue of gender in elementary and secondary education. Review of Research in Education 17, 269-333.
[70] Thanuskodi, S, "Gender Differences in Internet Usage among College Students: A Comparative Study" (2013). Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal). Paper 1052. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilprac/1052.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Mahajan P. T., Golahit S. B. (2017). Engineering a Woman: Marketing Opportunities and Challenges in India. American Journal of Management Science and Engineering, 2(1), 11-22. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajmse.20170201.12

    Copy | Download

    ACS Style

    Mahajan P. T.; Golahit S. B. Engineering a Woman: Marketing Opportunities and Challenges in India. Am. J. Manag. Sci. Eng. 2017, 2(1), 11-22. doi: 10.11648/j.ajmse.20170201.12

    Copy | Download

    AMA Style

    Mahajan P. T., Golahit S. B. Engineering a Woman: Marketing Opportunities and Challenges in India. Am J Manag Sci Eng. 2017;2(1):11-22. doi: 10.11648/j.ajmse.20170201.12

    Copy | Download

  • @article{10.11648/j.ajmse.20170201.12,
      author = {Mahajan P. T. and Golahit S. B.},
      title = {Engineering a Woman: Marketing Opportunities and Challenges in India},
      journal = {American Journal of Management Science and Engineering},
      volume = {2},
      number = {1},
      pages = {11-22},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajmse.20170201.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajmse.20170201.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajmse.20170201.12},
      abstract = {Engineering plays a key role in supporting the growth and development of a country’s economy as well as in improving the quality of life for citizens. Most of developed countries witnessed economic growth with the contribution of women in engineering field. In developing countries like India women remained under-utilized resource. Women in engineering are probably the single best investment that can be made in the developing world. There is clearly room for improvement – not only in recruiting women into engineering, but also in retaining and promoting those women who wish and do enter the profession. This study was designed to investigate a perception and determination of undergraduate women towards accessing Engineering Education. The study has highlighted women’s perceptions and experiences on accessing engineering education through institute’s Marketing Mix strategies which enables women to take up strategic positions to enjoy success in engineering education and career. Findings of this study revealed that women students in engineering are better satisfied and act of referring services/program to others is higher than men students in terms of numbers for a particular set of marketing mix applied to gender. A qualitative research survey through a structured questionnaire for the students who are studying or have recently completed their engineering education from reputed engineering institutes affiliated to the North Maharashtra University, Jalgaon, India was conducted. The study discloses women’s approach to engineering education in terms of marketing mix; program, price, place, promotion, people, physical evidence and process. Women tended to rate most the marketing criteria as having a higher level of importance than men. Women needed more communal support while making decision making of selection of engineering education. The survey is delimited to the engineering education belonging to North Maharashtra University, Jalgaon and Khandesh region, a rural part of India. Findings of the study will be useful for the institutes and direct and indirect service providers of engineering education in developing a communication program and should be utilized and integrated into all aspects of the marketing program to attract women in engineering.},
     year = {2017}
    }
    

    Copy | Download

  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Engineering a Woman: Marketing Opportunities and Challenges in India
    AU  - Mahajan P. T.
    AU  - Golahit S. B.
    Y1  - 2017/03/02
    PY  - 2017
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajmse.20170201.12
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ajmse.20170201.12
    T2  - American Journal of Management Science and Engineering
    JF  - American Journal of Management Science and Engineering
    JO  - American Journal of Management Science and Engineering
    SP  - 11
    EP  - 22
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2575-1379
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajmse.20170201.12
    AB  - Engineering plays a key role in supporting the growth and development of a country’s economy as well as in improving the quality of life for citizens. Most of developed countries witnessed economic growth with the contribution of women in engineering field. In developing countries like India women remained under-utilized resource. Women in engineering are probably the single best investment that can be made in the developing world. There is clearly room for improvement – not only in recruiting women into engineering, but also in retaining and promoting those women who wish and do enter the profession. This study was designed to investigate a perception and determination of undergraduate women towards accessing Engineering Education. The study has highlighted women’s perceptions and experiences on accessing engineering education through institute’s Marketing Mix strategies which enables women to take up strategic positions to enjoy success in engineering education and career. Findings of this study revealed that women students in engineering are better satisfied and act of referring services/program to others is higher than men students in terms of numbers for a particular set of marketing mix applied to gender. A qualitative research survey through a structured questionnaire for the students who are studying or have recently completed their engineering education from reputed engineering institutes affiliated to the North Maharashtra University, Jalgaon, India was conducted. The study discloses women’s approach to engineering education in terms of marketing mix; program, price, place, promotion, people, physical evidence and process. Women tended to rate most the marketing criteria as having a higher level of importance than men. Women needed more communal support while making decision making of selection of engineering education. The survey is delimited to the engineering education belonging to North Maharashtra University, Jalgaon and Khandesh region, a rural part of India. Findings of the study will be useful for the institutes and direct and indirect service providers of engineering education in developing a communication program and should be utilized and integrated into all aspects of the marketing program to attract women in engineering.
    VL  - 2
    IS  - 1
    ER  - 

    Copy | Download

Author Information
  • R. C. Patel Institute of Technology, Shirpur, Maharashtra, India

  • Department of Economics, KVPS’s, S. P. D. M. College, Shirpur, Maharashtra, India

  • Sections