2025 Annual Conference of SEFI - Best Research Paper
Sandra Cruz, a PhD researcher in the School of Architecture, Building and Environment Research (SABER) group at TU Dublin, and her supervisor, Professor Shannon Chance, were awarded the prize for “Best Research Paper” at the 2025 Annual Conference of SEFI, the European Society for Engineering Education.
The paper, “EVOLVING GENDER DYNAMICS IN TEAMWORK EXPERIENCES AMONG FEMALE ENGINEERING STUDENTS IN PBL SETTINGS”, was shortlisted in separate three categories: Best Student Paper, Best Diversity and Inclusion Paper, and Best Research Paper. Each category had its own team of judges.
Sandra’s research investigates how power dynamics, gender biases, and cultural expectations impact the lived experiences of diverse female undergraduate engineering students during collaborative teamwork in problem-based learning (PBL) environments. The study employs a longitudinal, qualitative social phenomenological approach with an intersectionality framework, drawing on 41 interviews with 22 students at Technological University Dublin.
Key findings reveal that while students’ confidence and participation increased over time, they continued to face gendered biases that influenced their perceived roles and credibility, prompting the authors to call for systemic structural interventions to promote inclusive educational practices beyond individual resilience.
This paper reports one aspect of Sandra’s doctoral research. Sandra’s work has been funded through a First-Time Supervisor grant awarded to Professor Chance by TU Dublin for detailed analysis of the interviews she has conducted with female students in TU Dublin’s common entry engineering course since 2015. A motivation for the work is to help enhance the delivery of engineering education at TU Dublin and beyond.