Influence of Societal Perception and Societal Support on the Participation of Female Students in Technical Education in Nigeria

Abstract

Technical innovation is considered as one viable means for global development, as it affords both male and female relevant skills to make positive changes in their world. Howbeit, participation of female gender in technical Education in Nigeria and largely in Africa compared to other developed continents is relatively low and this largely has to do with the role the society play in influencing dominance of male gender in this area. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of societal perception and societal support on the participation of females in technical education in Nigeria. Two research objectives and hypothesis guided the study. A correlational research design was adopted for the study. The sample for the study was 150 female students from five secondary schools in Enugu State. Three structured questionnaires titled societal perception questionnaire, society support questionnaire and students’ technical education participation questionnaire were developed by the researchers and used for data collection. Three experts from the Department of Industrial Technical Education, University of Nigeria, Nsukka validated the instruments. Data collected were analyzed using correlation analysis for the research questions, while the hypotheses were tested using simple linear regression at 0.05 level of significance. It was discovered that there was a significant relationship between societal support and female students’ disposition towards participating in technical education.