Gender Discourses in Civil Engineering TVET College programs: Marginalized Female Voices in the Learning of Engineering Concepts
Thokozani Isaac Mtshali 
Issue: Vol.5 No.5 Issue Article 12 pp.724-734
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.20245512 | Published online 21st May, 2024
© 2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Collectively, the Engineering sector is still the most male-dominated field and most TVET College graduates are males. Why is this even a case when the fourth industrial revolution pushes all livelihood boundaries and ensures that males and females are exposed to similar opportunities in the sector? Of course, there can never be a comprehensive response to this patriarchal question. Hence, this study delved into this societal issue through classroom discourse in a Civil Engineering and Building Construction course at a TVET college in Limpopo Province. This study was premised on the fact that lecturers in the college use “male” examples more than those of women which affects how women perceived the Civil Engineering field. Moreover, this study laid bare the preferences of female students and how they want to be involved in discourses without making reference to gender roles. This study used a qualitative research approach for a case of eleven (11) female students. Data was collected through focused group interviews. The study employed the Social Identity Theory as its framework. The study found that indeed unconscious biases are happening during classroom discourses and that the lecturers seem to be unaware of this. As a recommendation, reskilling, and upskilling of TVET college lecturers is needed as a matter of urgency with a focus on their scholarship of teaching and learning. Universities as close partners to TVET colleges can facilitate these professional development programs. This study contributes to the global discourse on female inclusion in the engineering sector and the pedagogical practices of an engineering educator in a TVET college.
Keywords: Classroom discourse, Civil Engineering, Female students, TVET colleges
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Dr. Thokozani Isaac Mtshali holds a PhD in Technology Education from the University of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. Dr Mtshali is currently a program leader of honours program and Head lecturer of Engineering Graphics and Design in the Department of Technology and Vocational Education at the Tshwane University of Technology. He is the author of 41 articles and book chapters in accredited journals and a book focusing on TVET college administration and management. Dr Mtshali has successfully supervised 5 Masters’ and currently supervising Masters and PhD students in the areas of Technology Education, educational technology and TVET environment. In 2023, he received an award for contribution to research in the faculty of humantites at TUT. Dr Mtshali has delivered keynote address in Technical subject conference in South Africa, papers and chaired sessions at national and international conferences. His research interest covers teaching and learning in the TVET environment; creative strategies for teaching learners with special learning needs, Technology Education and the use of Artificial Intelligence to deliver skills based subjects.
Mtshali,Thokozani Isaac. “Gender Discourses in Civil Engineering TVET College programs: Marginalized Female Voices in the Learning of Engineering Concepts,” E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences 5, no.5 (2024): 724-734. https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.20245512
© 2024 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Journals. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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