Abstract
Although the employment of graduates has been systematically surveyed in Finland for years, the gender equality aspect has been largely ignored. As early career experiences are likely to affect the retention of female engineers also in Finland, this study aims to understand better the different factors contributing to the vertical gender segregation in engineering careers in order to find ways to enhance women’s qualitative and quantitative employment. A statistical analysis of 3153 responses to a survey about degree and career satisfaction, career progress, factors contributing to employment, competences required in work, and development of competences during university studies revealed several differences in women’s and men’s early career experiences and perceptions. The results indicate that engineering education provides men with a better starting point for an engineering career. Hence, corrective actions are needed already during the engineering studies to smoothen the women’s rockier road in the later working life.