Science, technology, engineering and mathematics enrolment patterns and factors influencing the choice to study science among female secondary school students in Nigeria

Abstract

Access to education has been listed as one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG4). Achieving this goal, however, is predicated upon the elimination of widely prevalent gender disparities in education. In this report, we first examine the differences in enrolment in STEM-related courses between the genders then we proceed to explore the factors that may affect the choice of STEM in pre-university female students in Ogun state, Nigeria. Two publicly available datasets, the Joint Admissions Matriculation Board (JAMB) enrolment data for 2012 – 2015 and data on the performance of students enrolled in Covenant University from 2010-2014 were used in this study. A survey of pre-university students in Ogun state, to examine factors that influence career choice was also conducted and used in this study. Our findings showed that men were more likely to be enrolled in a STEM discipline than women. This disparity was, however, not observed for non-STEM disciplines were both genders were equally likely to be enrolled. Responses from our survey of female secondary school students showed that a good number (47.6%) were not confident to take pre-university STEM subjects and were likely to enrol in non-STEM courses at the university. These findings emphasise the need to sensitise junior secondary school level girls to take on more technical courses in a bid to have adequate representation across the STEM disciplines. (Afr J Reprod Health 2021; 25[5s]: 91-97).