Influence of Occupational Stereotyping on Enrolment in Technical Courses: A Case of Female Students in Technical Training Institutions in North Rift Region, Kenya

Abstract

Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) has been championed as an avenue that to better standards of living since it empowers individuals to become economically productive and thus escape poverty and marginalization. However, the number of female students enrolled in TVET courses persistently remains low and sometimes declining. Therefore, gender inequalities due to these challenges make the focus of this research, which seeks to find out the influence occupational stereotyping has on enrolment of female students in technical courses in TVET institutions in North Rift Region, Kenya. The research design used for this study was the descriptive survey and the target population of the study consisted of 224 female students registered in the five TVET institutions in North Rift Region. Census technique was used because the target population was small and thus a manageable number. Data was collected by use of questionnaire that was administered to the sampled students and the internal consistency was computed by Cronbach alpha and yielded a coefficient of 0.861. Data was analysed using descriptive statistical statistics with the help of the computer software Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. The study indicated that enrolment of female students in technical courses was influenced by; career counsellors at KCSE level, KCSE grades and gender stereotypes. However, the respondents were ambivalent that their choice of technical courses was based on global technological advancements.