SOCIETY’S CURRENT ATTITUDE TOWARDS WOMEN IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY BASED ARTISAN JOBS AS A FACTOR IN MAINSTREAMING GIRLS INTO SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY MATHEMATICS EDUCATION (SMTE)
ABSTRACT
This was an attempt to investigate society’s current attitude toward women in science and technology-based artisan jobs as a factor in mainstreaming girls into science and mathematics education.
To collect the necessary data for this study, a Questionnaire on Society’s Current Attitudes Toward Women in Science and Technology Artisan Jobs was developed.
The collected data was analyzed using simple percentage, mean, standard deviation, and T-test analytical tools. The study’s findings indicate that people have a negative attitude toward women working in science and technology-based artisan jobs;
however, educational attainment and marital status have no influence on society’s attitude toward women working in science and technology-based artisan jobs. Gender, on the other hand, has been found to have a significant influence on society’s attitude toward women in science and technology-based artisan jobs.
It was suggested, among other things, that the government organize special educational programs, awareness and sensitization campaigns, seminars, and conferences at the national, state, and local government levels in order to change society’s negative attitude toward women in science and technology-based artisan jobs.
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 Introduction
1.1 Background to the Study
Gender discrimination in the workplace has recently become a major issue. Gender issues are embedded in and result from discrimination, which is still prevalent in many aspects of life around the world (Maduewesi, 2005).
Women believe that they are frequently subjected to sexual discrimination when it comes to deciding who gets a job, a promotion, or other employment benefits. According to Nwana (2007) and Maduabun, as cited in Okeke (2000), females are grossly underrepresented in the fields of Science, Technology, and Mathematics in Nigeria.
Woman, according to Hornby (2004), is an adult female human being. While Esan (2013) defines a woman as a female who has grown in age, knowledge, and experience over time. However, in recent years, society has assigned women the role of second fiddle.
According to Streisand (2000), men are allowed to be passionate and committed to their work…. a woman is not allowed to have that feeling for a man, but she is allowed to have it for her work.
Gender stereotype refers to the tendency to have a fixed set of ideas about the roles, attributes, or characteristics of a specific group of people, which are frequently incorrectly generalized to be true in all cases.
Kanno (2003) believes that it could be a fixed belief or a way of life. In another context, he defines stereotypes as the process of attributing certain factors or traits, positively or negatively, to a specific group of people. Women are viewed as decorative sex by Wilde (2007), despite the fact that women have excelled in all aspects of life.
According to Gabe (2000), men decided a few centuries ago that any job they found repulsive was “women’s work,” and that jobs requiring thinking, technology, and science should be reserved for men.
Science and technology-based artisan jobs appear to have been labeled as “men’s jobs” by society. As a result, there are very few women working in science and technology. Women’s employment is heavily concentrated in a few occupations in which they work in homes or on farms as helpers, nurses, caregivers, teachers, and computer technicians.
According to Okeke (2009), a number of socio-cultural and school-based factors have conspired to reduce women’s interest in Science, Technology, and Mathematics education, thereby impeding their full participation.
It is widely assumed that boys and men are inherently superior to girls and women in science and technology. This misconception has a negative impact on female participation in science and technology artisan jobs.
She also believes that because of her productivity, an employer or buyer of a service will prefer to hire a male artisan over a female counterpart.
Women’s full participation in science and technology artisan jobs is an economic imperative, because “no one can walk far or fast with only one leg,” according to Nyerere as cited in Ogunjobi (2008).
According to Ogunjobi (2008), women account for approximately 51 percent of the Nigerian population; therefore, ignoring or neglecting their scientific potentials is not an option if the country is to achieve both sustainable economic development and the Millennium Development Goals.
As a result, the significance of women working in science and technology-based artisan jobs cannot be overstated. Not only will it reduce unemployment, but it will also empower women and contribute to national economic growth.
According to Nnaka (2005), women are less likely to be timid or easily intimidated after acquiring skills and training in science and technology. Crime will also be reduced because hardworking women are less likely to engage in prostitution.
In several African countries, the number of young people pursuing science studies is declining, and there is a shortage of scientists and engineers in the labor market, which will be exacerbated by the aging population (Opaluwah, 2007).
Young people’s motivation is crucial in increasing the number of students enrolled in science courses; adequate information and scientific literacy are also important factors. Schoolchildren’s attitudes toward science are formed at a very young age (typically in primary school), and these can have a positive or negative impact on attitudes toward science, technology, and mathematics education.
Nigerian women’s access to work, particularly in science and technology-related fields, remains limited due to their unequal workload within the household division of labor. As a result, the achievement of the millennium development goals on gender equality and women’s empowerment is being stymied (Opaluwah, 2007).
Perhaps the most significant social barrier impeding women’s entry into science and technology-based artisan jobs is society’s attitude. Many occupational constraints imposed on women’s ambitions and inspirations are directly related to some long-standing myths based on physiological differences between the sexes.
Women in science and technology-based artisan jobs, for example, are thought to lose feminine characteristics such as passivity, emotionality, intuition, and receptivity. Onuebunwa (2008), on the other hand, observed that this situation will continue to exist, and that Nigerian women will
have to fight against oppressive socio-cultural religious, illiterate, and outright discrimination in certain occupations in order to earn a living, as they are being distracted from science and technology-based artisan jobs by social and cultural beliefs.
In light of this, this study investigates society’s current attitude toward women in science and technology-based artisan jobs as a factor in mainstreaming girls into Science and Technology Mathematics Education (SMTE) in Lagos State.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Girls’ inclusion in science, technology, and mathematics education is gradually improving in Nigeria. This is reflected in the number of girls who apply for admission to universities in this field each year.
Girls who work in male-dominated jobs, on the other hand, are frequently looked down upon by some people. This is due to the importance that society has placed on gender discrimination in the workplace.
The researcher also notices that fewer women are involved in science and technology-based artisan jobs in this part of the world than in other developed countries, and he believes that a similar trend exists among girls in science and mathematics education, so he decided to investigate whether there is a link between the patterns.
Several studies on women’s participation in science and technology have been conducted, but little attention has been drawn to mainstreaming girls into science, technology, and mathematical education.
On this basis, the researcher determined that it was appropriate to investigate society’s current attitude toward women in science and technology-related jobs as a factor in mainstreaming girls into STM education.
In the country, specific development policies aimed at women’s education in science and technology, as well as fairness in job participation, have been largely ineffective. Unhealthy state-controlled developmentalism has indeed aided in the eroding of independent feminist initiatives aimed at women’s emancipation in our society (Tsikata, 2007).
Gender disparities in science and technology enrollments, achievement, and employment have been documented around the world (Azuogu, 1990 and Nepa, 2008). Women have clearly outperformed men in science, but many women do not pursue science and technology-based artisan jobs as a career.
Women are aware of the contributions of science and technology to the overall development of the nation, but they do not participate in science and technology-based artisan jobs in the same numbers as their male counterparts.
As a result, the current study sought to investigate society’s current attitude toward women working in science and technology-based artisan jobs as a factor in mainstreaming girls into science, technology, and mathematics education.
1.3 Purpose of the study
The overarching goal of this research is to look into society’s current attitude toward women in science and technology-based artisan jobs as a factor in mainstreaming girls into science and technology mathematics education. To accomplish this, the researcher intends to:
1. Identifying people’s current attitudes toward women in science and technology jobs.
2. Determining the extent to which educational attainment influences society’s attitude toward women working in science and technology-based artisan jobs.
3. Identifying the extent to which gender influences society’s attitude toward women in science and technology-related artisan jobs.
4. Determining the extent to which marital status influences society’s perception of women in science and technology artisan jobs.
1.4 Research Questions
The study was guided by the following research questions:
1. What is the current public perception of women in science and technology jobs?
2. To what extent does a woman’s level of education influence society’s attitude toward women working in science and technology-based artisan jobs?
3. To what extent does gender influence society’s perception of women in science and technology-based artisan jobs?
4. To what extent does marital status influence society’s perception of women in science and technology-based artisan jobs?
1.5 Hypotheses for Research
The study was guided by the following hypotheses:
1. There is no statistically significant difference in the mean attitude scores of male and female respondents toward women in S&T-related artisan jobs.
2. There is no statistically significant difference in mean attitude scores toward women in S&T related artisan jobs between those who attended higher education and those who did not.
3. There is no statistically significant difference in the mean attitudes of married and unmarried respondents toward women in S&T related artisan jobs.
1.6 Importance of Research
This study’s findings should be viewed as a positive contribution to girls’ education, assisting the government in developing development policies. The study would also encourage parents to encourage their daughters to pursue careers in science and technology. Because whatever sauce is made for a gander is also made for a goose.
Various educational institutions, such as secondary schools and tertiary institutions, would also use this study to mainstream girls into science and technology fields in order to meet the Millennium Development Goals.
1.7 The Study’s Scope
This research investigates the definitions of major concepts and findings as provided by eminent authorities in the field. It seeks to ascertain society’s attitude toward women working in science and technology-based artisan jobs.
It also seeks to ascertain the relationship between society’s attitude toward women in science-based artisan jobs and the enrollment of girls in science, technology, and mathematics education. The study includes both male and female parents of students in secondary schools in Lagos state’s Education District IV.
1.8 Study Limitations
Due to time and financial constraints, this study could only cover a portion of Lagos state.
1.9 Term Definitions
Gender: the socially determined roles and relationships between men and women.
Gender preference: preferring one gender over another
Discrimination: the separation of one sexes from the other.
Work: occupation
Artisans are people who are skilled at manipulating their hands for scientific purposes and are creative.
Going in: entering
Bringing someone into the fold is referred to as mainstreaming.
Involved: take part
Underrepresented: there aren’t a lot of people who are fully represented.
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