Employment Opportunity Equality in Digital Engineering: A Qualitative Study of Female Graduates' Career Experiences

Abstract

In the context of the globalized knowledge economy and evolving gender roles, the challenges faced by female career development in STEM disciplines, particularly in electronic information technology and computer science, demand increased academic attention. Despite policies promoting women's participation in traditional science and engineering, the industry penetration rate of female graduates remains not enough in these digital‐based engineering fields. This study employs semi‐structured interviews with 17 female digital‐based engineering students from Chinese universities to explore gender isolation through academic development mechanisms and labor market access. It reveals a "masculine" professional culture within digital‐based engineering education, characterized by a cold laboratory environment, male‐dominated project models, and gender‐biased evaluation criteria, creating a field that excludes women. During market transformations, the intersection of capitalist logic and traditional gender ideologies has fostered a "technical elite‐masculinity" narrative, leading to systematic losses of women's educational human capital during employment transitions. However, through social mutual assistance, women exchanged information, formed emotional identities, and accumulated social capital, challenging male dominance in science and technology and exploring gender reconstruction possibilities. The research suggests that while expanding female digital‐based engineering education challenges traditional occupational isolation, emerging technologies deepen gender‐power dynamics, masking inequality mechanisms through a conspiracy of capital and patriarchy.