Map Worlds: A History of Women in Cartography

10. Educational Opportunities and Obstacles

205 CHAPTER 10 Educational Opportunities and Obstacles Regardless of the personal and career contingencies of the individual woman cartographer, she will come face to face with the educational agencies that formally launch her career in the map world. As far as the men are concerned, their acknowledgment of “gender” varies no less considerably, but is muted by the privileges they take for granted, especially in the reproduction of power in the map world. This chapter explores the general situation of training women cartographers , but first takes a look at the participation of women in technical fields in general so as to offer a comparison with women in cartography. It then takes an in-depth look at the participation of women in a cartography teaching institute, followed by a discussion about the expectations and rewards, and the role of mentorship in the education of women cartographers. Given the broad scope of the map world, one would expect to find many variations in the field of education (and training). Indeed, such education occurs in many different contexts. In the United States, it falls on departments of geography to teach cartography; in Canada, one finds departments of geodesy and geomatics engaged in education. But there are also departments of technology, laboratories, and specific institutes that partake in this process. Some institutes are national, some are international. All CHAPTER 10 206 these variations point to the complex nature of pinpointing some general patterns of education in the map world. One thing can be stated with certainty , however: women are under-represented. The situation regarding the participation of women in technical fields varies greatly with time, by national and local opportunities or obstacles, and by institutions and agencies that offer training and educational programs . No doubt the role of national professional associations also has a hand in (re)shaping educational opportunities for women (and men). It is no secret that the participation of women in engineering and technical fields remains relatively low. According to Maryse Demoor (2000), there are still relatively few women in science and particularly in the higher echelons of academia. In Canada, where there has been active recruitment of women going on in post-secondary education, 60 percent of all students in 2010 who received post-secondary degrees, certificates, or diplomas were women (N=146,721). In 1992, it was 56.4 percent (Statistics Canada, 2010: Table 477-0014). These figures are far lower for such fields as engineering , applied sciences, technologies, and trades, where 11.9 percent of all degrees are held by women (Statistics Canada, 1998). However, there are places where the percentage of women, such as in geomatics, is considerably higher, as at the University of Calgary where, in 1999, 34 percent of the students were women (Progress and Perspectives, July–Aug. 1999: 4). When one narrows down the focus to engineering, only 21 percent of engineering graduates in Canada were women in 1995 (Finnie, Lavoie, and Rivard, 2001: 10). The United States has a comparable situation, where 19.4 percent of students in engineering faculties are women (Progress and Perspectives, Mar.–Apr. 1999: 5), slightly up from 16.5 percent in 1996 (Progress and Perspectives , Jan.–Feb. 1997: 4). In 1994, there was an active discussion among educators as to what surveying nomenclatures would attract women students . The term “geodetic engineering” was the most appealing to female students (86 percent) in a survey among high school students in Maine and a few in Massachusetts, while “geographic engineering” appealed more to male students (64 percent). The term “surveying engineering” came third among female high school students (68 percent) (Schweik, 1994: 1–2). The next section examines the participation of women in an international cartographic educational institution situated in Europe. EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES AND OBSTACLES 207 IN AN INTERNATIONAL CARTOGRAPHIC EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION In the map world, there are a number of important institutes that teach cartography (along with geodesy and related fields). It is important to look more closely at a particular European institute, because a number of the interview participants received their training there and spoke about the critical role the Institute had played in their cartographic lives. The percentage of members of the Institute’s staff who are women has remained fairly constant over the years, but there has been a strong increase in the proportion of women students.1 There has not been much variation in the number of women staff since 1991, when women comprised...