International Journal of Engineering Technology, Management and Applied Sciences
www.ijetmas.com March 2015, Volume 3 Issue 3, ISSN 2349-4476
PYP Female Students’ Attitude and Perceptions Towards Introducing
Engineering and Medical Specialities in Qassim University, Saudi
Arabia
*Zeenat Zaidi
**Raida Salman
***Anmol Nasir
*Assistant Professor, Statistics, Deanship of Educational Services, Qassim University, K.S.A
**General Coordinator, PYP female Section, Deanship of Educational Services, Qassim University, K.S.A
***Lecturer, Statistics, Deanship of Educational Services, Qassim University, K.S.A
ABSTRACT
The main aim of this research study is to gauge PYP female students’ attitudes and perceptions
towards introducing engineering and medical specialities in Qassim University, Saudi Arabia. This
paper reports on the results of a survey of two hundred and eighty PYP female students at Deanship
of Educational Services, Qassim University, Saudi Arabia. Tables based on Descriptive Statistics are
formulated with the help of Questionnaire indicators. Results of the study showed that students have
strong positive attitude and perceptions towards introducing engineering and medical specialities.
The results will be helpful for the decision makers to better understand the point of view of females
studying at Qassim University to introduce the new specialities. Some basic obstacles and
suggestions are also described in this paper.
KEYWORDS: Engineering specialities, Medical specialities, Student attitudes, Student perceptions
and Descriptive statistics.
INTRODUCTION
Education is one of the most important and critical areas of empowerment of women. There are
important benefits of women education for society as whole. Women must get the chance to make
genuine choices over the kinds of lives they wish to lead. An educated woman has the skills and self
confidence that she needs to be a better parent, worker and citizen.
Women in Qassim, Saudi Arabia have been making huge strides in one important field i.e. higher
education [1]. Women’s growing interest in higher education could lay the foundation for more
employment opportunities. The female literacy rate is estimated to be 81% and 60% of all the
university graduates in Saudi Arabia are Saudi women. This has become possible because of
considerable efforts to increase women education and reduce the gender gap at different education
levels. But still women have been excluded from studying engineering, architecture and some
medical specialities because of the unavailability of these specialities in Saudi Arabia (Qassim
University) for females. These specialities are very crucial and important for uplifting the women’s
role in Qassim, Saudi Arabia. There is a significant shortage of women in engineering and medical.
It is important to understand that women are opting out of new medical technologies and engineering
career pathways. One of the major reasons is gendered separation and also the lack of employment
opportunities for women in technical specialities.
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Zeenat Zaidi, Raida Salman, Anmol Nasir
International Journal of Engineering Technology, Management and Applied Sciences
www.ijetmas.com March 2015, Volume 3 Issue 3, ISSN 2349-4476
According to the International Labour Organization, Saudi women constitute 18.6% of the native
workforce. The rate of participation has grown from 15.3% in 1990 to 18.6% in 2011. Other
statistical reports quoted by the Al Riyadh daily newspaper state that 14.6% of workers in the public
and private sectors of the Kingdom are women. Many efforts have been taken to promote gender
equality, and to ensure women’s equal access to education [2]. Although the percentage of women
receiving education has increased since 1960 [3] but still they are prevented from taking courses in
certain fields. This is just because there is almost an absence of major engineering specialities for
females. Also, the female students are not encouraged to study engineering. As a result, not enough
female students can explore engineering or other technical fields as a career option and therefore do
not prepare academically. Although engineering is still a male dominated field, gender
discrimination in engineering wages has been almost eliminated. To encourage more female students
to pursue engineering studies, it is important to eliminate misinformation and negative impressions
about engineering [4]. Many female students develop negative perceptions about work conditions
that steer them away from engineering careers. Some believe that other fields with greater female
representation offer less gender discrimination and greater opportunities for achievement [5], or feel
that engineering work is incompatible with family life. Over the past years, there had also been
changes in attitudes towards the roles of women and the probable changes in women’s own
perception of their capabilities. It must be observed that though there are increments in women
enrolments, yet much is still needed to improve the lot of women.
Our primary concern in doing this research study is to investigate about PYP female students and
their tendency towards introducing engineering and new medical specialities in Qassim University,
Saudi Arabia. Also, authors want to convey the females’ students’ point of view to the decision
makers.
METHODOLOGY
The study was conducted at PYP, female Melida branch, Qassim University. A random sample
of female students (N =280) was taken to complete a questionnaire which included items to measure
students’ feedback on introducing engineering and medical specialities. A 5-point Linkert type scale
with strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree and strongly disagree for the items of the questionnaire
was developed to measure students’ feedback. The questionnaire was distributed to the participants
inside the class. All respondents were asked to respond to the questionnaire and their responses were
guaranteed confidentiality. The questionnaire was in Arabic language. All participants were asked to
fill the questionnaire which included ten questions to measure students’ attitude and perceptions
towards engineering and medical specialities. The data of this study was gathered by means of a
paper and pencil survey. Respondents of the survey were PYP female students.
Responses to each of the question indicators were measured on a Linkert scale of 1 to 5, ranging
from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree”. Simple Descriptive statistics involving mean and
variance are used for construct validation in a questionnaire. Different statistical techniques are
applied for the analysis of data like frequency distribution. Bar Graphs are also drawn to have a clear
understanding of the views of the females towards new specialities. In the present paper, we have
shown the Bar graphs of three questions. Likewise we can draw for the other questions to have a
clear understanding of the result.
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Zeenat Zaidi, Raida Salman, Anmol Nasir
International Journal of Engineering Technology, Management and Applied Sciences
www.ijetmas.com March 2015, Volume 3 Issue 3, ISSN 2349-4476
RESULTS AND FINDINGS
In order to study the feedback of the students towards introducing engineering and some major
medical specialities, a questionnaire was developed with 10 items designed to measure the attitude
and perception towards engineering and medical specialities. Two hundred and eighty PYP female
students filled in the questionnaire. Among them eighty students were Level 2 students and two
hundred students were Level 1 students.
a) Table 1 shows the result of Question 1, Fig.1 depicts the bar graph of Q1. It can be clearly
seen from Table 1 and Fig.1 that 55% (more than half) of the students are strongly agree to
the fact that engineering profession is important to the society for females. We can analyze
from the present statistics that female students are strongly interested in engineering and
other technological careers, and they want to pursue their careers in engineering if they get
appropriate opportunities.
Do you consider engineering profession
important to the society for females?
Q1
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Undecided
Agree
Strongly Agree
Frequency
Percent
2
0.71
10
28
85
155
3.57
10.00
30.36
55.36
Table 1
Fig.1
b) Table 2 shows the result of Q9 and Fig.2 depicts the bar graph of Q9. It can be clearly seen
from the Table 2 and Fig. 2 that 65% of the students strongly agree and 25% of the students
agree to the fact that engineering and medical specialities fit in their career path goals. This
is evidenced by present statistics that 85% females agree to the fact that these specialities
will help to achieve their career path goals. In recent years The Saudi Council for Engineers
has also witnessed increased female participation. In 2006, the SCE also appointed seven
female Saudi engineers in its first - ever female committee [5]. Female engineers are also
actively being recruited in various Saudi companies, most prominently in the famous Saudi
Aramco oil company. Other numerous job opportunities are also available for females in the
health care and educational sectors [6, 7, and 8].
50
Zeenat Zaidi, Raida Salman, Anmol Nasir
International Journal of Engineering Technology, Management and Applied Sciences
www.ijetmas.com March 2015, Volume 3 Issue 3, ISSN 2349-4476
Does this new program (engineering or medical
science) fit in your career path goals?
Q9
Frequency
Percent
4
1.43
Strongly Disagree
7
2.50
Disagree
17
6.07
Undecided
71
25.36
Agree
181
64.64
Strongly Agree
Table 2
Fig.2
c) Table 3 shows the result of Q10 and Fig. 3 depicts the result of Q10. It can be clearly seen
from the Table 3 and Fig. 3 that 55% of the students strongly agree to the fact that students
are selecting the available medical specialities and computer college due to the lack of some
medical and engineering specialities in Qassim University for females. Hence they are
selecting their career according to the availability, not according to the interest. Saudi
females are growing in education. According to the World Bank, in the year 2008, the
literacy rate in Saudi Arabia for females ages 15 – 24 was 97% [10]. They are becoming
pioneers in a variety of fields, most prominently in science and research. They are receiving
international awards, granted patents for their innovations in research. King Abdul-Aziz first
class Saudi medal awarded to women scientists.
Are you selecting the available medical
specialities and Computer College due to the lack
of some medical and engineering specialities in
Qassim University for females?
Q10
Frequency
Percent
18
6.43
Strongly Disagree
26
9.29
Disagree
31
11.07
Undecided
51
18.21
Agree
154
55.00
Strongly Agree
Table 3
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Zeenat Zaidi, Raida Salman, Anmol Nasir
Fig.3
International Journal of Engineering Technology, Management and Applied Sciences
www.ijetmas.com March 2015, Volume 3 Issue 3, ISSN 2349-4476
Table 4
Item
No.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Questionnaire Indicator
Do you consider engineering profession
important to the society for females?
Do you consider medical science
profession important to the society for
females?
Do you think Qassim University should
introduce civil engineering for females?
Do you think Qassim University should
introduce study of microbiology for
females?
Do you think Qassim University should
introduce study of radiology and optics for
females?
Do you think Qassim University should
introduce bio-medical and genetic
engineering
for females?
Do you think Qassim University should
introduce chemical and mechanical
engineering
for females?
Do you think that your family will allow
you to take admission in engineering
specialties?
Does this new program (engineering or
medical science) fit in your career path
goals?
Are you selecting the available medical
specialties and Computer College due to
the lack of
some medical and engineering specialties
in Qassim University for females?
Strongly
Agree
155
(55.3)
Strongly
Disagree
2
(0.7)
Agree
Neutral
Disagree
Total
85
(30.3)
28
(10.0)
10
(3.6)
248
(88.6)
25
(8.9)
6
(2.1)
1
(0.4)
0
280
186
(66.4)
56
(20.0)
19 (6.8)
15
(5.4)
4
(1.4)
280
168
(60.0)
72
(25.7)
27 (9.6)
9
(3.2)
4
(1.4)
280
221
(78.9)
39
(13.9)
9
(3.2)
5
(1.8)
6
(2.1)
280
211
(75.4)
42
(15.0)
15 (5.4)
7
(2.5)
5
(1.8)
280
145
(51.8)
76
(27.1)
34
(12.1)
19
(6.8)
6
(2.1)
280
190
(67.9)
60
(21.4)
19 (6.8)
9
(3.2)
2
(0.7)
280
181
(64.6)
71
(25.4)
17 (6.1)
7
(2.5)
4
(1.4)
280
154
(55.0)
51
(18.2)
31
(11.1)
26
(9.3)
18
(6.4)
280
280
d) Table 4 shows the percentage of the effectiveness of introducing new medical and
engineering subjects. The responses to each of the indicator were measured on Linkert Scale
of 1 to 5 ranging from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree”. We noticed that above 70%
of female students strongly support the idea of introducing new medical and engineering
subjects for females in Qassim University. Introduction of new medical and engineering
subjects for females can uplift the role of females especially in Qassim. The education sector
of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is going through a new era because of its young and
growing population. Now females have become more conscious and alert as for as education
is concerned. This research clearly proves that females are strongly interested in studying
engineering and new medical specialities.
The study found that there is an excellent and positive response of the female students of PYP
towards introducing new specialities. In this survey, results show that 88.6%
(N = 248)
52
Zeenat Zaidi, Raida Salman, Anmol Nasir
International Journal of Engineering Technology, Management and Applied Sciences
www.ijetmas.com March 2015, Volume 3 Issue 3, ISSN 2349-4476
of the students strongly agree to the fact that medical profession is important to the society for
females, and 55.3% (N = 155) of the students believe that engineering profession is important
to the society for females. There is a strong positive response towards medical specialities.
Similarly, students show positive response towards chemical engineering, mechanical
engineering, biomedical, genetic engineering, study of radiology and optics. Also, 67.9% (N
= 190) students confirmed that their families will allow them to take admission in engineering
specialities. Indeed, this is highly encouraging and a healthy realization of the importance of
education by the families too. Society as a whole is improving its position and trying to reach
the peak in education and technology. People are greatly concerned about their children’s
education.
a) Table 5 provides an overview of the relative importance of questions indicators. Mean scores
of the sample indicate that majority of the students are in favour of introducing engineering
and new medical specialities. This data exhibits that the mean score of all the indicators are
more than 4 which proves that education landscape in Saudi Arabia has changed
dramatically in recent years. Also, the females are taking an interest in science nationally.
Table 5
Item
No.
Questionnaire Indicator
Mean
St dev.
4.361
0.856
4.857
0.433
4.446
0.973
4.396
0.894
4.663
0.805
5
Do you consider engineering profession important to the society for
females?
Do you consider medical science profession important to the society
for females?
Do you think Qassim University should introduce civil engineering
for females?
Do you think Qassim University should introduce study of
microbiology for females?
Do you think Qassim University should introduce study of radiology
and optics for females?
6
Do you think Qassim University should introduce bio-medical and
genetic engineering for females?
4.596
0.845
7
Do you think Qassim University should introduce chemical and
mechanical engineering for females?
4.196
1.034
8
Do you think that your family will allow you to take admission in
engineering specialties?
4.525
0.816
4.493
0.834
4.061
1.27
1
2
3
4
Does this new program (engineering or medical science) fit in your
career path goals?
Are you selecting the available medical specialties and Computer
College due to the lack of some medical and engineering specialties
in Qassim University for females?
9
10
53
Zeenat Zaidi, Raida Salman, Anmol Nasir
International Journal of Engineering Technology, Management and Applied Sciences
www.ijetmas.com March 2015, Volume 3 Issue 3, ISSN 2349-4476
OBSTACLES AND SUGGESTIONS
1. Lack of Encouragement: Engineering education for females can also be promoted and
integrated at to Qassim University. It is found that many students, particularly young girls, do
not know what engineering is and what engineers do, and school counsellors often do not
know enough about engineering to help inform these students about careers in engineering.
As a result, not enough students explore engineering or other technical fields.
2. Gendered Segregation: Classes can be initiated by constructing a separate engineering college
campus and actively recruiting engineering female professors (Saudi and non Saudi) for this
task.
3. Lack of Female Professors: Experienced female engineers should be hired for the different
engineering labs. If male instruction is required, girls can be instructed by broadcasting
lessons live from the nearby campus.
4. Lack of STEM Education in general: STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math)
education is a dynamic issue that is currently being heavily analyzed and targeted around the
world. Decision makers should perform an active role in encouraging females to engage in
engineering and STEM education in general. This could be promoted through social media
and the Internet.
5. Recruitment Challenges: Encouraging more women in engineering and some major medical
specialities would help to improve women’s position in the labour market, by improving
access to better pay and progressive opportunities.
6. Poor Understanding of Engineering Career and the Engineering Pathway: Not only students
have a poor understanding of engineering careers, but many families do not have enough
knowledge about science careers in general. We should aim to give the message that science
does not only lead to a narrow set of careers, but it covers quite a wide range of lucrative
professional fields. Given that science capital can determine career aspirations, ensuring that
key influencers have enough information that is crucial to encouraging more young women to
consider an engineering career. Recognition of both historical and modern achievements by
women in the engineering disciplines is important. Successes stories in the field help
motivate other women, so they could also realize their dreams come true and explore the
possible engineering offers.
DISCUSSION
This research study will definitely enlighten the authorities at Qassim University to give a thought
to the proposed induction of engineering and new medical specialities in the campus. Saudi women
are pursuing higher education especially in science at a rate greater than Saudi men and Western
women. They are becoming pioneers in a variety of fields, most prominently in science and research,
assigned in different types of jobs which were not allowed, such as work in industry, leading
decision making government, and private sector posts etc. They are receiving international awards,
granted patents for their ideas and innovations. But at the same time there is also almost an absence
of engineering and major medical specialities for females. They are choosing career according to the
availability, not according to the interest. The objective of this paper is to briefly shed light on the
importance of this area for women and try to analyze its justifications. Misconceptions about
engineering continue to influence those who pursue a career in engineering. Many still consider
54
Zeenat Zaidi, Raida Salman, Anmol Nasir
International Journal of Engineering Technology, Management and Applied Sciences
www.ijetmas.com March 2015, Volume 3 Issue 3, ISSN 2349-4476
engineering a ‘man’s job’, and it is associated with a workplace culture that may put off prospective
female workers. A more flexible perception of women’s participation in the workforce is needed.
This would generate more job opportunities for Saudi women, contributing handsomely to the
national income.
CONCLUSION
This paper investigates the attitudes and perceptions of 280 female students from PYP female
branch, Deanship of Educational Services, Qassim University towards introducing engineering and
some new medical specialities.
The results of this study provide some useful insights, especially for the decision makers for
introducing engineering and new medical specialities for females in Qassim University. A high
proportion of PYP female students had strong positive attitude towards engineering and medical
specialities. Although Saudi Arabia currently holds some of the leading academic institutions in the
Middle East as proven by international ranking, but still engineering and new medical specialities are
almost absent in Qassim University. The research reveals strong positive attitude and perceptions
towards introducing engineering and new medical specialities for females in Qassim. It is true that
Saudi culture has some restrictions for women; however, the decision makers should invest more in
specific specialization (engineering and medical) so as to witness a balance between tradition and the
demands for the productive participation of females in society. This would lead to the more advanced
and knowledge based society.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Our sincere thanks to Dr. Faisal Al jaseer (Dean, Deanship of Educational Services) for allowing us
to do research in PYP, Melida branch.
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