Writing and Women’s Retention in Engineering — Rhetoric & Composition

Journal of Business and Technical Communication Oct 2017

Writing and Women’s Retention in Engineering

Jennifer C. Mallette Boise State University

Abstract

Engineering disciplines have focused on recruiting and retaining women, assessing factors that contribute to decisions to enter or exit the field at every level. While many studies have examined writing in engineering disciplines, few have looked at writing’s role in women’s decisions to remain in or leave engineering. Using a case study of a professional civil engineer, Katy, this study examines the role that writing played in her dissatisfaction with engineering and her ultimate decision to leave the field. The author analyzes two genres of writing, meeting minutes and a preliminary engineering report, to explore how Katy’s writing practices often ran counter to her coworkers’ or supervisors’ approaches. While a single case study makes generalization impossible, this work opens the door to future research that accounts for writing in recruiting and retaining women.

Journal: Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Published: 2017-10-01
DOI: 10.1177/1050651917713253
Open Access: Closed
Topics: qualitative research

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (4)

Mallette (2024)

Listening, Reflecting, and Learning: A Methodology for Engineering Communicatio…

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McCall (2021)

Getting the Story Straight: How Conflicting Narratives about Communication Impa…

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Weedon (2020)

Emotion and the Economy of Genre in a Design Presentation

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Durst (2019)

Disciplinarity and Literate Activity in Civil and Environmental Engineering: A …

Written Communication

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Journal of Business and Technical Communication
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Journal of Business and Technical Communication
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