An Empirical Study of the Perception of Undergraduates of Nigerian Females

Journal of International Women's Studies Volume 16 | Issue 3 Article 3 Jul-2015 An Empirical Study of the Perception of Undergraduates of Nigerian Females' Participation in Science, Technology and Mathematics Lucy Eraikhuemen I. K. Oteze Follow this and additional works at: http://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws Part of the Women's Studies Commons Recommended Citation Eraikhuemen, Lucy and Oteze, I. K. (2015). An Empirical Study of the Perception of Undergraduates of Nigerian Females' Participation in Science, Technology and Mathematics. Journal of International Women's Studies, 16(3), 33-41. Available at: http://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws/vol16/iss3/3 This item is available as part of Virtual Commons, the open-access institutional repository of Bridgewater State University, Bridgewater, Massachusetts. This journal and its contents may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, re-distribution, re-selling, loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. ©2015 Journal of International Women’s Studies. An Empirical Study of the Perception of Undergraduates of Nigerian Females’ Participation in Science, Technology and Mathematics By Lucy Eraikhuemen1 and I. K. Oteze2 Abstract Science, Technology and Mathematics (STM) have been identified as the bed rock or foundation of wealth and consequently an imperative for national development. It has also been argued that in this era of globalization only persons with appreciable knowledge, skills and abilities in STM are required in the job market. Female gender discrimination is also said to be evident in the school system of many developing countries. This study was design to investigate the perception of undergraduates of Nigerian females’ participation in STM. The study focused on subjects’ awareness of the problem of under representation of females in STM, expected career choice for females, predisposing factors of females to STM education and strategies for change. Students in the university constituted the population for the study. Simple random sampling was used to select the subjects for the study. 438 subjects were selected from two universities in Benin City, Edo state of Nigeria. The instrument for data collection was a questionnaire having four sections to reflect the four areas of focus of the study. Data collected were analysed with the use of descriptive statistics. Based on the findings of the study recommendations were made for enhanced participation of Nigerian females in STM. Key Words: National Development, Gender Discrimination, Science, Technology & Mathematics (STM). Introduction Mathematics is about the oldest subject in existence. It originated from man’s quest for a language or means of counting, measuring and recording his possessions. It is a subject whose knowledge is useful in every aspect of life. This is why it occupies a significant position in the Nigerian school curriculum. It is a compulsory subject at the primary and secondary school levels, and a credit pass in ordinary level mathematics is required for admission to study the majority of the courses at the tertiary level. Today, mathematics has been generally accepted as 1 Dr (Mrs) Lucy Eraikhuemen was born on the 7th day of August, 1966. She holds a doctorate degree (Ph.D) in Mathematics Education and is currently Associate Professor of Mathematics Education in the Department of Curriculum & Instructional Technology, University of Benin, Benin City. She has 16 years of university teaching and research experiences. Her research area includes mathematics education, gender & women studies, curriculum & instruction. She has over 30 publications in local, national and international journals. Email: . 2 Dr (Mrs) Kate I. Oteze was born on the 3rd day of September, 1967. She holds a doctorate degree in Mathematics Curriculum. She is currently a Tutor 1 (Mathematics) in the University Demonstration Secondary School and an Associate Lecturer in the Department of Curriculum & Instructional Technology, University of Benin. Her area of research includes measurement & evaluation, mathematics teaching & learning, women & gender Studies, curriculum & instruction. She has over 10 publications in local, national and international journals. Email: . 33 Journal of International Women’s Studies Vol. 16, No. 3 July 2015 the bedrock of science and technology, a language which scientists use to express scientific findings. Audu (2005) stressed that “mathematics is the foundation for any meaningful scientific endeavour and any nation that must develop in science and technology must have a strong mathematical foundation for its youths” (p. 197). According to him, mathematics is frequently encountered in association and interaction with astronomy, physics, and other branches of natural sciences, and it also has deep-rooted affinities to the humanities. He concluded that mathematics is an indispensable medium by which and within which science expresses, formulates, continues and communicates itself. Science, Technology and Mathematics (STM) can be seen as a cord of three strings which are interwoven and interdependent. Advances in one field result in/from development in the other. STM have been identified as the bedrock or foundation of wealth and consequently an imperative for national development. It has also been argued that in this era of globalization only persons with appreciable knowledge, skills and abilities in STM are required in the job market. Any country that has not embraced or made significant efforts to advance STM education is said to be on the wrong or negative side of the international digital divide. Despite the relevance and utilitarian purpose of STM, it has been observed that participation of females in the field is low. Badekale (2003) reported that women in Africa are greatly underrepresented in science and technology related courses/occupations. In the same vein, the international conference organized by UNESCO in Bamako, Mali in July 2009 assessed the participation of girls and women in science and technology in Africa to be the lowest of all the regions of the world (Nnaka, 2009). Alutu and Eraikhuemen (2004) investigated the involvement of females in mathematics in south western Nigerian universities. The study shows that the ratio of male to female lecturers was approximately 16:1, and the ratio of males to females enrolled at the undergraduate levels was 2:1, while at the post graduate levels, the ratio of male to female on roll was 6:1. Nwelih, Igene & Igene (2013) investigated gender studies in computing at the University of Benin. The results show that females are disadvantaged or less involved in the technical and logical aspects of computer use. They concluded “that something definitive has to be done to improve the statistics in computing in favour of females; else we risk having a population teeming with females inadequately (...truncated)