Gender Differences in ICT Studies: A Study of Selected Public Secondary Schools in Ogun State, Nigeria

Introduction

The dearth of female students in ICT-related studies is glaringly on the increase in many public institutions especially the secondary schools where basic infrastructure including electricity is lacking. One explanation for the obvious gender gap is as a result of gender inequality rather than lack of women’s ability to acquire the requisite skills to function adequately within the sector (Odukoya, 2005). Another possible explanation lies in the fact that the significant others (family, schools, peers, etc) play a major role in influencing whether the young people decides to pursue STEM related studies or pursue a career in those domains or not (Zarrett, Malanchuk, Davis-Kean, & Eccles, 2006). A number of studies Eccles (1994), Zarrett et.al. (2006), Vekiri and Chronaki (2008), Lang (2012), Gras-Velazquez, Joyce, and Debry (2009), Sáinz et al. (2009), Yansen and Zukerfeld (2014), Yansen and Zukerfeld (2014), Trauth, Quesenberry, and Morgan (2004), Pechtelidis, Kosma, and Chronaki (2015), Pechtelidis, Kosma, and Chronaki (2015), Nelson (2014), Moakler and Kim (2014), Christoph et. al. (2015), Cheryan, Master, and Meltzoff (2015), Cheryan, Master and Meltzoff (2015), Zagami et.al. (2015) and George and Suleiman (2015) have identified some social-cultural factors causing gender differences in ICTs studies.

This study is an investigation into the causes of gender differences in ICT studies at the secondary educational level where least attention of scholars and researchers in contemporary times have been focused.