- Title
- Influences on gender disparity in TVET enrolement: a comparison of engineering and business courses in Kenya
- Creator
- Opwara, Meshack Chuma
- Relation
- University of Newcastle Research Higher Degree Thesis
- Resource Type
- thesis
- Date
- 2014
- Description
- Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Description
- Technical, Vocational Education and Training (TVET) has become one of the key policy priorities in education and training in Africa due to the recognition of its effects on social and economic empowerment of the society. In Kenya, TVET has been identified to provide requisite skills and build human capacities especially in key priority areas including science, technology and engineering that support the achievement of its Vision of becoming a prosperous and industrial nation by the year 2030. However, there is serious gender imbalance in technology and engineering programmes offered in TVET institutions where the proportion of female students enrolled is much lower than males posing female economic empowerment and equity challenges. Studies on gender enrolment in Kenya focus on other education levels, with very little undertaken at TVET level and provision of up-to-date information at this level, can further inform and may ideally, enhance policy formulation and review. This study focused on the factors that influence student choice of courses at TVET level generally and by gender, the barriers to female enrolments in technology and engineering courses, their relative importance as well as the effectiveness of the government interventions to bridge the gender gap and other perceived measures that could achieve a more effective solution. Quantitative and systematic analysis of government enrolment data were used to analyse enrolment data from seven technical training institutions as well as opinions of 999 (91%) students and 64 (100%) Heads of Departments of technology and engineering and business departments in 16 technical training institutes in Kenya collected using a separate questionnaire for each sample. Inclusion of business department respondents made it possible to compare engineering and non-engineering students’ and their departmental heads’ opinions on influences on student enrolment in engineering and business courses, thus, enabling an applicability of the findings to TVET programmes more generally. Enrolment trends in the two courses, students’ interests, and opinions on influences on their enrolments in the courses and causes of gender disparities in technology and engineering courses were analysed. The Heads of Department opinions on causes of these disparities as well as measures to address them were also analysed. The study found a range of factors affecting student enrolment in TVET courses including their interests and attitudes towards courses, related employment and the respective prerequisite secondary school subjects, the subject teachers, parents, career advisors, relatives and friends, TVET policies and system, media, student objectives to do the course, and culture. Among these factors, student interests in the courses, influences from the respective subject teachers (science and business teachers), employment interests and interests in secondary school subjects (science or business) were the most important in prediction of the differences of student choice of courses at this level. Unlike in developed countries where getting a better salary is important in choice of courses, this was not so in the case of enrolment in TVET courses in Kenya where students were more driven by their desire to gain employment. The same was the case of use of media in relaying careers information where respondents indicated that they were more influenced by newspapers as opposed to TV and internet which are predominant in conveying this information in developed countries. Compared with males, females in general including those who were enrolled in engineering and technology courses in TVET were less interested in engineering courses, the related employment and prerequisite secondary school subjects which was a major barrier to their enrolment and retention in the engineering courses. Other barriers to female enrolment in engineering were competing interests in other courses, employment and unrelated secondary school subjects, negative cultural stereotyping about female performance in technology and engineering employments, lack of role models, and low quality of training. The government intervention through bursary awards to encourage female enrolments in technology and engineering courses significantly reduced their dropout rates but had low impact on achieving gender parity in these courses since it did not address the other barriers. Thus, the study concluded that a holistic approach involving all key stakeholders in formulation and implementation of relevant laws, policies and programmes to address the short term, medium term and long term enrolment needs could be a more effective solution.
- Subject
- gender disparity; enrolment in engineering and business; technical and Vocational Education and Training; barriers; measures
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1045228
- Identifier
- uon:14429
- Rights
- Copyright 2014 Meshack Chuma Opwara
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