Group work experiences of women students in a Scottish chemical engineering programme

Chemical Engineering, similar to other Engineering courses, has seen an undergraduate gender shift 10 in recent years towards greater women student representation. This raises the issue of the inclusion, 11 in terms of equality of participation and opportunities, of these women students in learning activities 12 and also the role that they can play in encouraging inclusion and development of others, which can 13 have implications, not only for their current studies, but their future careers. This paper provides both 14 statistical evaluation of students’ attainment from group working activities, and a narrative account of 15 the students’ experiences along with the resulting impact on their inclusion, engagement and group 16 interactions. We highlight the changing role filled by women students and their awareness of these 17 changes and impacts. Notably, the work identifies a change in attitude with regards to roles for 18 women in facilitating group work with many women students purposefully avoiding the additional 19 work-load that past studies have identified.