Gender Inclusivity: Exploring Design Dynamics and Psychological Safety in Virtual Engineering Design Dyads

Abstract Despite increasing efforts to promote diversity and women’s inclusion in STEM, women’s participation in engineering remains low, with many leaving the field due to negative experiences in academia and the workplace. As a first step towards understanding this discrepancy, we investigated how gender and gender composition within expert engineering design dyads affect the design interactions, team dynamics, and perceived psychological safety in a virtual collaborative environment. Through statistical, stochastic, and network analyses, distinct gender-based patterns was found in design interactions and communication. Our findings indicated that mixed-gender dyads exhibited more action-oriented behavior. Discrepancies were found in perceived psychological safety between male and female participants and interactions that influenced it. Significant differences were found in self and partner perceptions of contribution, especially regarding design decisions. This study highlights the impact of gender dynamics on collaboration and psychological safety in engineering design, emphasizing the need for more gender-based analysis to foster environments that enhance innovation and creativity.