Narratives of Women in a Man's World: Positioning in the stories of female Engineering students in Kuwait

This research explores the narratives of female students who study engineering at Kuwait University with a view of looking into how they construct their professional identities and choices. Although the number of women who are... [ view full abstract ]

This research explores the narratives of female students who study engineering at Kuwait University with a view of looking into how they construct their professional identities and choices. Although the number of women who are studying engineering in Kuwait, unlike anywhere else, outnumbers the number of men, this is a largely under-investigated area in terms of narrative and identities analysis. The data for this thesis consist of narrative interviews conducted with six Kuwaiti students completing their senior year at the college of engineering and petroleum and who have also undertaken an internship in several different engineering companies and field sites. The research provides insights to the under-researched field of women's identities in engineering. The study explores the women's identities' construction through their narratives telling in interview setting. Using narrative positioning theory (Bamberg 1997: 493), the analysis looks at (1) the informants’ identity construction within the narrative told (Level 1), (2) the informants’ local situated positioning in the talk in interaction of the interview setting (Level 2), and finally (3) how both of these positionings assist in shaping the informant’s identities towards the wider available discourses (Level 3). Through a focus on a range of linguistic choices, for instance pronominal choices, and specific story-genres, especially generic stories, I show that the participants position themselves as agentive individuals, ready to adapt their lifestyle to institutional structures that accommodates men and the patriarchal lifestyle. Finally, the analysis relieved that the women challenged all types of the master narrative, unlike other studies that focused on women’s insecurity on their technical abilities; the analysis showed that although engineering is a profession imbued with a culture of technical know-how, the women position themselves in the counter narratives. They declined all types of the stereotypical image formed about female engineers in the traditional society; they showed the ‘tinkering image’ and that they are ready to step aside by their male counterparts in the several fields of engineering. This research contributes to the wider perspective of women in engineering and society.