Gender and area of specialization vis-à-vis students’ enrolments in undergraduate degree programmes by platform in Public Universities in Kenya

Abstract

The essence of this paper was to determine the extent to which gender and area of specialization are related with students’ enrolment in undergraduate degree programmes by platform in Public Universities in Kenya. The researchers considered the cases of Moi University, Kenyatta University and Nairobi University. The study used secondary data collected from the registration offices of the respective universities for the academic years 2003/2004 and 2004/2005. These data were presented in forms of text and tables. The analysis undertook majorly the quantitative pathway using percentages and Chi Square. The overall findings have shown a discrepancy in students’ enrolment per gender and area of specialization and hence lead to the rejection of the stipulated null hypotheses. The study made a number of recommendations that would enhance the universities programmes’ cost-effectiveness and labour market orientation. Indeed, further areas of research are portrayed.

Keywords: Gender, Enrolment, Regular and Parallel programmes, Public Universities, Kenya