GENDER NEUTRAL ENGINEERING - AN IMPOSSIBLE DREAM - THE CASE OF EASTERN-EUROPE

A total of 189 engineers, both students and qualified engineers of bot h sexes at two universities in Bulgaria, were given a questionnaire ad dressing the issue of why such a high proportion of engineers in Bulga ria were women compared with Britain. Answers were both fixed answer a nd open ended. The responses stressed the importance of the need for w omen to work for economic reasons and the role of the previous (commun ist) system in emphasizing the importance of both engineering and gend er equity in its policies, including its educational policy. Qualified engineers were slightly more ready to stress these 'system' factors t han student engineers. Engineering in Bulgaria had not been altered in any way which would take account of Western feminist criticism of eng ineering, but was perceived as being taught more theoretically and via lectures than in Britain. A contemporary strong switch away from engi neering into economics and business was perceived. It is not clear yet whether gender neutral engineering will survive in Bulgaria.