In/Visibility Issues Surrounding the Coping Strategies of Algerian Female Engineers

Abstract

The scope of the present article revolves around exploring the experience of Algerian female engineers and sheds some light on the dichotomous construction of (in) visibility of female’s endeavour, contribution, and strategies to cope within male-dominated engineering and challenge the marginal borders embedded with their resistance, exclusion, and underrepresentation in an arena perceived as masculine. This paper expands the view that workplace context can explain people’s behaviour at work setting or even as social individuals by drawing on the tenets of CDA and FCDA that serve to offer an understanding of their experiences and challenges in light of the complexities and masculinities of engineering. Although their experiences varied, the analysis of the participants’ discourses remains representative of a significant manner of resistance to the available masculinities, it reveals a picture of extensive masculine culture that affects their coping strategies, and highlights women’s consciousness-raising in the professional domain while struggling to gain their social status.