Emphasizing professional skills and professional values: Investigating the role of faculty´s gender and departmental gender diversity

Although the number of doctoral degrees awarded to women in engineering has increased substantially over the last half of the 20th century, women are still substantially underrepresented among engineering faculty. Operating from the premise that a "cultural mass" of an identity group might change organizational behavior, we explore the potential influence of gender composition on faculty\´s teaching decisions, specifically as they relate to workforce development. Our study utilizes data from a NSF-funded study from a nationally representative sample of 31 institutions representing over 120 programs in seven engineering disciplines. Using institutional-level controls, we were able to find several forms of organizational influence that played a significant role in instructional approaches, specifically gender balance within the organization. We determined that gender balance increases the likelihood that a faculty member will make instructional choices that emphasize professional values. Our initial results suggest that gender diversity in a department is significantly related to the inclusion of professional values in course content.