Gender and socio-economic background differentials in students’ attitude to information and communication technology education in Nigerian secondary schools: Implications for policy, ICT education and counselling

Abstract

This is a study of gender and socio-economic background differentials in students’ attitude to information and communication technology education in Nigerian secondary schools. The aim was to determine students’ differential attitude to information and communication technology education in order to proffer appropriate counselling interventions for the advancement of information and communication technology (ICT) education among Nigerian adolescents. This study used descriptive survey research design involving a sample of 500 respondents. Data collection was done using a socio-demographic form and the ICT Attitudinal Scale (ICTAS) developed by the researchers. The instrument yielded 0.91 and 0.86 index of reliability and internal consistency respectively. While the results indicated poor attitude towards ICT education, no significant gender and socio-economic differentials was observed in students’ attitude to ICT education. Thus, it was recommended that stakeholders in education especially, administrators, lecturers and counsellors should device appropriate means of fostering students’ positive attitude to ICT education. Key words: Information and communication technology (ICT), gender, socio-economic background, adolescents, Nigeria.