Abstract
A study was carried out to ascertain the barriers to effective participation of females in surface-mount technology (SMT) in Imo State. Four purposes and four research questions guided the study. The study adopted the survey research design. The population of the study consists of all the female science students and lecturers in six tertiary institutions in Imo state. The simple random sampling technique was adopted with a sample size of six hundred respondents. A structured questionnaire was used to elicit response which was analyzed using mean. Findings revealed that domestic issues and responsibilities, culture of marginalization, stereotyping of knowledge and skills are barriers to effective participation of females in SMT. It was therefore recommended that schools should be gender responsive and females should be assertive and stand for their rights in order to move forward. Key words: Barriers, stereotype, marginalization, science, mathematics and technology.
Highlights
In Nigeria, the government is increasingly realizing that technological development is mandatory for the country’s overall development
The instrument used for gathering data was 12 items questionnaire on four Likert scale developed by researchers tagged BAFPSMT: B = Barrier A = Affecting F = Female P = Participation S = Science M = Mathematics T = Technology
The present study revealed that in the past formal education was seen as a waste for females, who are eventually married off to become housewives, average mean of 3.36 is not surprising because Harding (1987) reported that low performance of females in science, mathematics and education is traceable to the assumption the society makes about males and females
Summary
In Nigeria, the government is increasingly realizing that technological development is mandatory for the country’s overall development. During the introduction of formal education in Nigeria, efforts were made by parents to ensure that females did not attend formal education. This was for several reasons one of which was that it was considered wasteful as girls would eventually be married off to become housewives (Bandekale, 2003). Women formal education was not favoured by parents early enough. As a result of the foretasted setback, there is underrepresentation of women in education generally and especially in the field of science and technology. Harding (1987) posits that low performance of women in science, mathematics and Technology can be due to: 1.
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