Engineering students benefit from pairing in group work Monday, 03 July 2017

A professor from Wake Forest University has found that female engineering students perform better when they are paired with at least one other female for group projects.

The study, titled "There Is No 'I' in Team: Peer Effects in Engineering", looked at the performance of students in introductory engineering classes.

The class demographics were typical of a selective engineering program, with few female and minority students, and a high number of international students.

The students prepared for class by watching lectures and completing assigned reading. During class, they worked in randomly selected groups of four to create a design, such as a toy for use in preschool classrooms.

When female students worked with at least one other female in their group, their course grade was higher than those without female peers in their group.

The study authors found that female engineering students who were paired with other females were also more likely to build up sufficient interest in engineering to declare an engineering major at the end of their first year - a critical step in getting more women to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

According to Amanda Griffith, an associate professor of economics who specialises in challenges facing women in STEM programs, it's simple human nature that it is more comfortable to work on projects with people who are similar to ourselves.

"That connection can be powerful and could point to something about similar learning processes," Griffiths said.

"We definitely see benefits for women not being alone in this type of setting," Griffith said. "What’s going on here could be happening in other engineering settings like this, both in and out of the classroom."

The next step is to see if the effect carries over or compounds during the second course in the engineering sequence, where students are reassigned to project groups, or in professional engineering settings. Griffith also wants to see if working with same-gender peers influences whether women graduate with an engineering degree and pursue careers in engineering.