ABSTRACT

The way educational institutions and occupational systems vary by country tells us how different nations have adapted to modern industrial capitalism. Women’s increasing participation in the field appears to be a typical feature of this adaptation. Yet, while technicians of all kinds are key figures in studies of engineering, questions of gender and the entrance of women into the market for technical labor usually receive little attention.1 Selectivity in higher education has been disadvantageous to women in some places and helpful in others. It has also helped to determine which parts of the labor market women have entered. Therefore, studying the role played by institutions of higher education is crucial to understanding why and when women entered engineering, and how their presence helped to determine the shape of modernizing societies.2