Enhancing Thailand’s international competitiveness through women’s enrolment in technical fields in tertiary education

Women’s low enrolment in technical fields in tertiary education is a worldwide phenomenon that is an area of concern for women’s equality. While this concern is substantial, a much greater concern for women’s low enrolment in technical fields is how their absence can affect a developing country. This paper will explore the role of women in technical fields in development. This paper hypothesizes that women represent a distinctive body of labour in technical fields as a result of their unique ideas and contributions. Their absence in these fields can have negative consequences on societies and countries in that, if women pursued more technology-based educations, they could greatly influence the creative and productive capacity of a country in relation to international competitiveness. By examining the country of Thailand and its current development struggles, this paper identifies the value of women in technical fields and on developing countries.