Feminist Perspectives in Engineering Education: A Teaching Initiative for Structural Change

This paper presents and evaluates a teaching initiative developed within the oneyear project Feministische Technikethik in Lehre und Forschung (FeTe), which aimed to enhance gender sensitivity in engineering education at the Faculty V – Mechanical Engineering and Transport-Systems at the Technical University Berlin. The initiative was designed in response to the persistent underrepresentation of women in engineering and sought to implement student-led strategies to address these disparities. The project was structured in two phases. In the first phase, students participated in a seminar where they explored theoretical perspectives on the co-construction of gender and technology, examined gender inequalities in engineering education and practice, and studied feminist design methods aimed at addressing these issues. In the second phase, students engaged in hands-on projects, developing materials to promote gender sensitivity in engineering education. Following a constructionist approach, they designed their own strategies to tackle gender inequality. This paper details both the structure and content of the project to provide a framework for those interested in adopting a similar approach. Additionally, it evaluates the project's successes and challenges. The findings highlight the importance of fostering an open space for discussion, which requires actively addressing power dynamics within the university and the seminar itself. Furthermore, the paper critiques the limited long-term sustainability of such initiatives due to temporary funding. Finally, it examines the politicization of gender-related terminology and its implications for similar initiatives, advocating for sustained institutional commitment to integrating gender-sensitive perspectives into engineering education and practice to ensure lasting impact and structural change.