“I am a Girl, I am an Engineer”: Promoting Engineering Pathways For Underprivileged Secondary School Girls Through Educational Intervention

The underrepresentation of women in engineering disciplines remains a global challenge despite many ongoing initiatives. There has been many reports and studies conducted on the topic of women in STEM that indicated women continue to be significantly underrepresented in energy-related professions, highlighting the need for targeted educational interventions. As an effort to inculcate the interest of women in the field, a project entitled “I am a Girl, I am an Engineer” was conducted at a Malaysian national school in Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia. This report focused on the second implementation of the project continuing from the first pilot study in 2025.
The project was implemented using a training module named REITMO developed in a pilot study conducted previously. Pre-test and post-test research design was employed to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention. The instructional sessions were delivered by experienced practising female engineers from higher education institutions and industry, while practical workshop activities were facilitated by female undergraduate student facilitators from Quest International University, Malaysia. A total of 40 underprivileged urban secondary school girls participated in the program.
The findings demonstrated significant improvements in participants’ knowledge and understanding of renewable energy technologies, specifically bioenergy, geothermal energy, and ocean energy. Additionally, results indicated significant enhancement in students’ practical experimentation skills, prototype building skills and increased interest in pursuing engineering-related studies and careers. The outcomes suggested that structured experiential learning initiatives led by female role models could effectively enhance technical awareness and motivate underrepresented female students toward engineering pathways.

Female in STEM, Renewable Energy, Women in Engineering, Empowerment of underprivileged girls

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