High Achievement in Mathematics and the Girl Child - Homi Bhabha ...

Gender Issues in STMEThe number of Toppers in different classes from IV - XIIYear IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII Total GrandBoys Girls Boys Girls Boys Girls Boys Girls Boys Girls Boys Girls Boys Girls Boys Girls Boys Girls Boys Girls Total1996 13 4 12 0 12 4 12 3 17 0 13 0 12 0 3 0 2 0 96 11 1071997 19 5 11 1 9 2 8 1 12 0 12 1 8 4 2 0 2 0 83 14 971998 14 1 11 3 11 1 7 1 10 0 9 0 9 1 3 0 2 1 76 8 831999 12 0 12 1 10 2 11 0 10 1 9 0 9 0 2 0 3 0 78 4 822000 10 1 10 2 11 1 11 1 11 3 11 0 5 1 2 0 2 0 75 9 842001 7 1 7 1 7 1 6 2 8 0 9 1 7 0 3 0 3 0 57 6 632002 12 0 9 3 9 1 8 2 10 2 15 1 9 0 8 0 3 0 83 9 952003 9 4 12 0 11 0 10 0 11 2 9 1 12 0 9 0 7 0 90 7 97Total 96 16 84 11 80 12 73 10 89 8 87 4 71 6 32 0 24 1 63 68 704Table 1: Number of toppers in Achievement-cum-Diagnostic Test in 1996 – 2003.The following steps were undertaken.i) An instant talk competition was arranged by theauthor, 12 students of class XI, and each one fromtwelve schools of which six were from Boys’ and othersix from girls’ schools of Kolkata. Each student wasasked to talk on the topic, “ Why are the girls weak inmathematics?” The boys and girls gave relevant argumentsin support of their answers. The responses revealeda lot of ideas in regard to so called weakness ofgirls in mathematics.ii) A second step was taken. Twenty experts of whomten are males and ten are females were selected. Theexperts were teacher-educators, teachers of mathematicsfrom schools and colleges, and educational administrators.All of them were participants of a seminaron mathematics teaching organised by Centre for PedagogicalStudies in Mathematics. Each of the twentyparticipants were asked to state reasons on the issue‘Why is the number of girls less than that of boys amongthe high achievers in mathematics?’ The group of expertstook the issue enthusiastically and gave their opinionsand comments regarding such achievement ofgirls.Why is the number less?The opinions expressed in the talk competition by thestudents, both boys and the girls were collected. Againthe opinions and comments expressed by the expertswere also taken into account. Finally a list was prepared,which according to the above respondents werereasons for low achievement of girls. These reasonswere many, diverse and varied. It is to be noted thatthese reasons are not exhaustive. They, however, give aglimpse of what learners as well as experts think aboutsuch low achievement of girls.Reasons for low achievement of the girl childAn analysis of the opinions of learners of experts revealedthe following:i) Most of the male experts opined that majority ofthe girl children are ‘naturally’ weak in mathematicsand in mathematical reasoning, while most of the femaleexperts did not agree to such a comment.ii) The guardians do not usually encourage the studyof mathematics for their daughters.iii) The guardians normally think at the very beginningthat the girl children are poor in mathematics.iv) The girl children have lesser interest, attitude andattention in mathematical thinking.v) In the matrimonial market the would-be-husbandsand their parents prefer that the prospective bride shouldbe conversant in fine arts (dance, music, drawing etc.)and the humanities, rather than in mathematics, scienceand engineering.vi) In rural areas, the negligence of the guardians andthe society of the girl child in their study of mathematicsand science is highly discouraging.vii) The girls have to do household work in addition totheir study.viii) The girls are prohibited from going outside anddiscussing the lessons with their boy friends, and maletutors and teachers.ix) The experts agreed that there are many bright girlchildren also, who are learning mathematics with joyand enthusiasm in a better way than many of their boyclassmates.x) The expert group also opined that, given properopportunity and encouragement, the girl child can excelin the same way as the boys.xi) According to them it is encouraging that the girlchildren are doing better now as compared to earlierdays.xii)The number of girl students in a particular sampleis less and hence the number of high achiever girls isless.115

Gender Issues in STMExiii) Boys are more efficient in ‘hall manage’ thanthe girls and hence boys get greater score in mathematicsthan girls.Observations and their interpretationsFirst of all, it is to be admitted that the observationobtained from the results of ADTM for boys and girlsare confined only to the population taken in the study.Thus, the observation that the number of girls is lessthan that of the girls in respect of high achievement inmathematics can not taken as a generalised conclusion.In fact, we often find many bright girl studentswho are shining in future as eminent mathematicians.But many facts, figures and findings as stated in ourpaper earlier, show that the number of girl-toppers isless than that of the boy-toppers in regard to achievementin mathematics.Some opinions for this underachievement of girl childhave been given above. It is to be carefully examinedto what extent they can be accepted as valid reasonsfor under achievement of the girl child. It has beenseen that ‘bright’ girl students in mathematics are lessin rural areas than in urban areas.It can thus be said that as socio-cultural conditionsimprove, the consciousness of gender equality also improves,and as such, the girl child gets greater motivationto do better.Another significant finding is that such bright girl studentsare less in upper grades than in lower grades.At lower secondary stages the boys and girls get, tosome extent, equal educational opportunity. But, atupper secondary and higher secondary stages, the attentionof guardians are focussed more on boys thangirls. Again the parent also takes greater attention tosee that their daughters take up humanities subjectsrather than science subjects. Thus the issue of such underachievement ultimately reduces to social neglect of thegirl child. In fact, in many cases, parents give moreattention to boys, because they think that boys will getjobs and will help the family in future, so they selectthe boy child for study of science and mathematics,and provide maximum possible facilities to them. Thewhole atmosphere of learning mathematics for the girlchild is in most cases not congenial for mathematicalstudy. Again, the would-be-husbands and his familymembers prefer the bride to be conversant in fine arts,music, dance, cooking, humanities etc. rather thanbeing engaged in the study of mathematics.Let us consider the simulation in the classroom also inco-education classes, the teacher has in many casesthe pre-occupied idea that boys are superior to girls,and so asks more questions to boys and lesser numberof questions to the girls. The girls, on the other hand,being naturally shy and timid, do not intend to respondproperly. The spontaneous intention of learning is thusthwarted. Being deprived of encouragement from parents,teachers, boy friends, family members and thesociety, the girl child herself starts thinking that she isinferior to the boy child in the study of higher mathematics.It must, however be admitted that the above gloomysituation of learning mathematics is not always true.But, in most cases, the under-achievement of the girlchild in mathematics, in case of occupying top-positions,is due to the negative attitude of gender-differenceto the girl child by the school, family and thesociety.116

Gender Issues in STMEThe Role of Mathematics Education inWomen EmpowermentEve KadyamarungaZimbabwe School Examinations Council, Harare, ZimbabweThe importance of Mathematics as a tool for scienceand technology is continually increasing. While scienceand technology have become so pervasive, mathematicseducation has continued to dominate the schoolcurriculum and remains a key subject area requirementin higher education and employment sector.The hue and cry which follow the publication of mathematicsresults has become an annual ritual. The postmortemsabout the results eclipses a number of areaswhere female students have lagged behind. This hasalso impacted on courses and careers sought by womenin the working world. They have attributed their failureto perform to expected standards to lack of soundbackground knowledge of mathematics. It is this realizationthat the skills learnt at school have had verylittle if any, bearing on what society needs in terms ofproductive citizens that prompted the research to lookinto problem areas in the teaching and learning ofmathematics so as to equip students with the necessaryskills needed on the market. In this regard, the genderimbalances in enrolment, achievement at school level,colleges and universities and the employment sectorwere also issues of concern. Our societies are becomingmore and more technological with a mathematicalbias, more attention being focused on attainmentof mathematical competencies. Since Zimbabwe attainedits independence in 1980, most women havetaken indigenisation policy and affirmative actionpolicy seriously. This has seen both the formal andinformal sectors involved in the running of cooperativesand small business enterprises for which clearunderstanding and application of mathematical conceptsand skills is required. This triggered the need forresearch into aspects pertaining to the role of mathematicseducation in assisting career choices undertakenby women. The argument is, to what extent doesMathematics education offer new challenges and opportunitiesfor women advancement?The ‘O’ and ‘A’ Level Mathematics syllabuses essentiallyspell out the national goal of laying a base for manpowertraining. That at tertiary level aimed at producingtrained and skilled manpower for the country’s economicgrowth were then looked at in light of the relationshipbetween the level of mathematics educationacquired and job opportunities through making a comparativestudy on the number of males and femalesundertaking mathematics in schools and colleges andin some of the mathematics-related occupations fromboth the formal and informal sectors.Empowerment provides opportunities to increaseknowledge and vocational skills for survival and alsoimproves accessibility to more enterprising career pathsfor women.Imbalances in enrolment, performance, subjects andsubsequent employment in jobs that have a mathematicalinclination underscored the need for interventionprograms to bridge the gap while it revealed the needfor a curriculum reform as a mechanism for improvingthe quality of education. Corresponding changesin assessment procedures are seen fit to accompanythese reforms so as to ensure a holistic approach tolearning. The research sought to provide a diagnostictool from which to view other changes that were seenfit in the teaching, learning and assessment of Mathematicsin the context of women empowerment.This research was a descriptive survey whose targetpopulation was that of women in employment, undergoingskills-training and those still in high school. Theresearch showed how these women are under-representedin mathematically related studies and careers.A stratified random sampling of high schools, collegesand the formal and informal employment sectors ofthe economy were used in the selection. Interview schedulesand questionnaires were used in the collection ofdata. Both qualitative and quantitative cross validationexercises were conducted through observationschedules and archival records. It provided a base forfurther exploration of issues related to the design anddelivery of mathematics education.A trend analysis showing how enrolment and pass ratesin mathematics have dwindled from ‘O’ Level throughto mathematics-related occupations was established byway of a three-point moving averages. A correlationalanalysis of the career opportunities by gender was donestarting from subject choices in the schools, tertiaryinstitutions and subsequently in the employment sectors.117

Gender Issues in STMEStudy design and proceduresThe study followed a cross-sectional survey design inwhich primary data was collected from; teachers, pupils,parents and the education policy makers. The respondentswere randomly selected from primary schoolswithin Kampala and wakiso districts while secondarydata was collected from documents obtained from;schools, ministries of; Education and Sports (MoES)and that of Gender, labour and Social Development(MoGLSD), the Uganda National Examinations Board(UNEB) and the National Curriculum Development Centre(NCDC). To fit the study in within the context of thecurrent debates, online interrogation of both publishedand unpublished reports was done. Data from both primaryand secondary sources was analysed using qualitativeand quantitative methods. Content analysis approachwas employed for analysing the qualitative datausing Nudist (N6) qualitative analysis software, whilethe quantitative analysis employed descriptive statisticscomputed using the Statistical Package for SocialScientists (SPSS).Results, discussion and recommendationsSummary of results from this study indicated that attitudesof; parents, teachers and pupils themselves contributeto the gender perfomance gap between the femaleand male pupils in primary schools in Uganda.Other problems highlighted by this study are the unbalancedwork burden at home, lack of motivation,confidence and the biased learning materials (seebelow).Learners’ AttitudesAlthough about 100% of the females acknowledgeMathematics as useful, they did not work hard on thesubject. Lack of interest, motivation and confidencemade them view the subject as hard. Therefore femalesdid not participate in Mathematics Clubs anddid not do their Mathematics home works as much asdid the males.80.4% of the male pupils and 63.8% of female pupilsbelieved that Mathematics was a subject for males. 33%of the females did Mathematics only after special encouragement.the responsibilities of the female children. About 75%of the parents preferred male Mathematicians in thefamily and society.The teachers revealBiased Teaching MaterialsTeachers felt that maths textbooks were too difficult tobe of much use in private study and that this adverselyaffect female who did not get as much external help astheir counterpart boys. Teachers also reveal that thetextbooks had a bias towards males, which could affectthe females’, drive towards Maths. Teachers thoughtthis could be the reason why females hardly participatedin class.Females Lacked Confidence and Motivation in MathematicsMost of the teachers (80%) believed that some pupilsespecially girls lacked confidence. The teachers estimatethat about 75% of pupils most of them females,lacked motivation, consequently many females missedclasses. They also believe that other factors includeperception of Mathematics as difficult, regarding thesubject as a reserve for males, shortage of females Mathematicsteachers to act as models for females and hatingMathematics as a result of hatred for one topic.Conclusions and RecommendationsIn conclusion, pupils, teachers and parents suggestedencouragement, explaining the importance of Mathematics,individual attention, regular roll-calls, puttingpupils of various abilities to work together in teams,give more time for question, extra lessons and encouragingthe pupils to practice problem solving. Theyalso suggested the recruitment of more qualified teachers,on-the-job training of teachers, inspection by qualifiedsenior teachers of Mathematics and the improvementof the teachers’ conditions of service among others.Parents and the housework Burden at homeMany parents 54% of the parents attested that homebased problems do interfere with girl’s study at home.Problems included noise, household duties, visitors,video, lack of electricity, walking long distances to andfrom school, and children’s failure to comprehend thework on their own. About 68% of the parents indicatedthat females were busier at home than males.Due to gender stereotyping these duties were normally119

Gender Issues in STMEGendered Communication in Technology Tasks: Glimpses ofGroup InteractionsSwati Mehrotra, Ritesh Khunyakari, Chitra Natarajan & Sugra ChunawalaHomi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, TIFR, Mumbai, IndiaSignificance and underlying theoreticalframeworkCommunication, both oral and written is an essentialcomponent of the design and technology curriculumfor school level being developed at HBCSE. Studentsrecord observations, describe investigations and communicatefindings through oral presentations and writtenreports. Hence they need to be able to communicateeffectively. Non-verbal communications (like gesturesand expressions) are also important, especiallyfor communication of feelings and attitudes.Studies have shown that in a classroom setting, boysand girls have preferential ways of learning and expressingtheir knowledge and skills. Dale Spender(1980) highlights the gendering of language and howthis has partitioned our world. Robin Lakoff (1973)observes that language use by children changes in differentways for boys and girls. ‘Women’s speech’ whichincludes a large number of question tags, according toher, is the result of social interactions and reinforcements.The dynamics of group interactions and thesocial relations among boys and girls tend to be different(Thorne, 1993).Like language, technology is gendered, and its knowhow,design, fabrication and maintenance tend to be amale preserve (Cockburn and Ormrod, 1993;MacKenzie and Wajcman, 1999). The relative participationof women in technology and engineering coursesis skewed; in India, women constitute only 17% of totalenrollment in engineering and technology (ManpowerProfile of India, 1999). Socio-cultural factorscontribute to this situation (Kramarae, 1988). Kim Beat(1991) reports gender differentiated use of constructionkits in nursery schools. Even five year old childrenhave been seen to have definite views about what constitutes“men’s work” and “women’s work”. Studies insecondary schools have shown that girls rarely engagein playing with tools and equipment, while boys notonly have more experiences, but also a perceived expertisewith equipment (Jones et al, 2000).middle school level. Three tasks were designed to engagestudents in measuring, planning, distributingwork, designing, manipulating resources, making,communicating and evaluating.Each task followed a pattern: students were set a reallife problem, such as making a bag to carry their booksin. They then explored the context, came up with alternativedesigns, communicated these and answeredqueries about the designs. The tasks were geared todevelop students’ oral and written communication skillsthrough activities that required writing (poems, descriptions),drawing, technical drawings and proceduralmaps, listing materials and work distributions as wellas presenting publicly, descriptions and evaluation oftheir own product and one made by others.This paper focuses on qualitatively understanding socialdimensions of resource and tool use in the tasksetting and the communication that occurred betweenand within group members during the technologytrials.Research design and procedureAround 20-25 students from 3 schools participated inthe tasks in separate batches. The students studying inclass 6 and 7 were from 2 urban schools and a ruralschool which was a tribal residential school where themedium of instruction was Marathi. In the urbanschools there was one Marathi and one English mediumschool. The 3 tasks were (i) bag making, (ii)making a model of a windmill to lift weights, and (iii)making a puppet and staging a puppet show. Each taskwas planned for about 15 hours, over a period of 5days. Students formed groups of 3-4 members each.There were about 6 groups per school for each task; 4single sex groups (2 boys’ groups, 2 girls’ groups) and2 mixed-sex groups. Video and audio data was collectedwhich included conversations and aspects ofgroup dynamics. Each group maintained a file of theirwritings and drawings for the task. Researchers alsokept a daily log of their observations.Objectives of the studyThe Design and Technology project at HBCSE aims atdevelopment of gender inclusive technology tasks for120

Gender Issues in STMESome findingsStudents formed single sex groups spontaneously. Theyhowever, did not volunteer to form the mixed sex groups,and at times they had to be forced to be members of amixed group. Many English and Marathi medium urbanstudents were found to be confident and fluent oralcommunicators. Rural students took longer to completewritten and oral activities, and their oral communicationwas more often inaudible. They also tooktime to open up even to the researchers. Special activitieswere planned with these students before embarkingon the tasks to help build a rapport.There were gender differences in the students’ languageuse, often through explicit comments, such as, “Yehladies lok ka cheez hai”… (“This is ladies’ stuff”.) “It’snice that you have ladki lok (girls) in your group” (anall-boys group member to another group). Interestinglysuch statements were made by boys and correspondingreferences were not made by girls. Non-verbal communication,such as ignoring or refusing to look at /listen to another, also showed gendering. Girls in mixedsexgroups often found it difficult to be heard; a boyfrom the urban Marathi medium continued to ignore agirl from his group, who persistently tried to contributeto a discourse, even calling out to the boy “Aye,aye…..”.Other non-verbal communications were seen in acts ofgrabbing and trying to gain control over limited resourceswithin a group. Sometimes fights broke outover this issue. Some groups were not willing to sharecommon resources (sand from the garden became acommodity of contention). Sharing has various aspects.In some groups, the members who completed theirwork helped other members and groups. Communicationspace too can be shared; some groups gave a roleto each member in public speaking, whereas in othergroups this space was not shared.Interactions within mixed-sex groups were often differentfrom those within single sex groups. Work distributionwas often clearly gendered. Girls took on, orwere allocated by their group, activities of writing anddrawing. On the other hand, activities such as, cuttingthe paper/cloth, hammering rivets, drilling and sometimeseven sewing was done by boys. Girls were reluctantto take on the drilling activity even when urged bythe researchers. There seemed to be a tacit assumptionthat the spheres of work of the two sexes are different.In all the settings, some students were clearly the acceptedleaders: the reasons were varied to include superioracademic performance, age or physical build.In the urban setting, an academically bright girl wasthe accepted leader of an all-girls group; others includingboys also evinced an interest in being part ofher group. In a mixed group (tribal) two boys (bigbuild, older) were the accepted leaders of the class.The presentation, supplemented by video clippings willprovide examples of gendered aspects of interactionsand use of language and non-verbal cues while studentsperformed a variety of activities in the three technologyeducation tasks.ReferencesBeat, K. (1991) Design it, Build it, Use it: Girls andConstruction Kits. In science and technology in the earlyyears, Naima Browne (ed), Open University Press, Buckingham,Philadelphia.Cockburn, C. and Ormrod, S. (1993) Gender and Technologyin the Making; Sage publications, London.Jones,G.M, Brader-Araje, L., Carboni, L.W., Carter,G., Rua, M.J., Banilower, E. and Hatch, H. (2000)Tool time: Gender and students’ use of tools, control,and authority, Journal of Research in Science Teaching,Volume 37, Issue 8 , Pages 760 – 783.Kramarae, C. (1988) Technology and women’s voices:Keeping in touch, Routledge & Kegan Paul Books Ltd;1st edition, New York.Lakoff, R. (1973) Language and Woman’s Place, Harper& Row, New York.MacKenzie D. and Wajcman, J.,(eds.) (1999) The socialshaping of technology, second edition, Open UniversityPress, Buckingham, Philadelphia.Manpower profile of India yearbook (1999) Instituteof Applied Manpower Research, New Delhi.Spender, D. (1980) Man made language, Pandora Press,London.Thorne, B. (1993) Gender play: Girls and boys inschool. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.121

Gender Issues in STMERe-examining Gender Balance Education in AgriculturalScience, Technology and Mathematics in Nigeria: An OverviewStella O. OdebodeUniversity of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.Problem of the studyDespite policy formulation on equal and accessible educationto both sexes, wide disparity exists between maleand female education in Nigeria. Science educationinvolves giving knowledge of scientific skills by teachersto learners through effective teaching learning process.Women in Nigeria have been found wanting inparticipating on different areas of science. Gender imbalancein Nigerian schools leads to inability of girlsto study scientific and technical subjects thereby limitingthe females’ educational career and employmentchoices. This deprives the country at large of humancapital that is highly valuable. (Odebode, 2001). Thispaper also examines how gender imbalance leads toabsence of sexuality education, whereby young boysand girls and are not empowered to develop a positivesense of their own sexuality to acquire factual informationto cope with life.Objectives and significance of the studyThis paper examines how culture inhibits the participationof women in Science, Technology and Mathematicsand suggests strategies for women participationin Science. It also prescribes a policy of affirmativeaction to ensure that gender fairness and balanceexist in all our actions.Problems of gender-balanced instruction inschoolOne prominent problem of a gender balanced instructionin Science, Technology and Mathematics (STM) isthe issue of sex stereotyping which is reflected in schoolsin textbooks, and lesson notes. The references involvingthe males in STM are discouraging.Culture and education of any country determine thedevelopment of such a country and affect women participationin social, physical and psychologically orientedfunctions.Culture also impedes gender-balance in schools, depressesthe competence of some women when consideringthe sex-stereotyped roles at home, occupation patternand the socialization pattern of a community.In Nigeria, a father prefers to invest on boys’ educationthan the girls. Girls are not motivated to aspire forScience, Technology and Mathematics-oriented discipline.Girls’ education is perceived to lead to moraldecadence in the northern part of Nigeria. They aretherefore encouraged to marry early thereby preventingthe opportunity for education. The birth of a femalechild is seen as a disappointment. They are second-ratedin the Society.Educated women are not regarded as good wives andthey find it difficult to marry at the right time. Thiscauses increase in the poverty and illiteracy levels insome occupations in Nigeria. In some cases, malesrefuse to marry females who involve themselves in somecareers that are culturally termed “masculine.” Thishowever depresses the intellectual development, underminesthe confidence and dampens the aspirations ofthe females. All these affect the attitude of the femalesor the girl child towards Science, Technology and Mathematics.In some families, boys are counselled to be involved insome professions that will earn them more money andgirls are counselled to offer courses that will makethem to be good housekeepers. This negative attitudetowards gender fairness should be discouraged andproper encouragement of gender balance educationshould be promoted. Girls should be allowed to beactively involved in the Science, Technology and Mathematicslaboratories, workshops, seminars and classesto enhance their performances in schools.The way forwardA major recommendation in this paper, is that Science,Technology and Mathematics education should be promotedin all schools (primary, secondary and tertiary)Agricultural science especially, should be given a highpriority among other science subjects. Science Technologyand Mathematics education should be accordedproper rights of organization, management and controlby the school authority.Enlightenment campaigns, reverse discriminatory policies,role modeling and activities encouraging girl-childor female participation in STM should be enhanced.Non-governmental organizations, Ministry of educa-122

Gender Issues in STMEtion and subject associations should organize programmeson gender fairness issues to promote femaleparticipation in Science, Technology and Mathematicseducation. Women’s association of Science, Technologyand Mathematics should function actively in meetingits objectives on a very regular basis.Incentives should be given to females in form of awards,scholarship in school to encourage female participationin Science, Technology and Mathematics education(Nsofor, 2001).Moreover there must be programmes to popularize Science,Technology and Mathematics among girls fromthe nursery school level to the tertiary level.Girls and women should strive to increase their scientificknowledge by reading periodicals, journals andrelevant literature. Publishers and curriculum developersshould discourage gender-biases in textbooks andcurriculum materials.Research institutions should develop programmes andprojects to enhance women advancement and participationin Science, Technology and Mathematics education.Moreover, the men folk should learn to appreciateand respect the dignity and worth of women scientistsand by willing to co-operate with, rather thandiscriminate against them at places of work.Ajetunmobi, A. W (1996) Life Long Education: Its Implicationfor Primary School. Journal of Further Mathematicsand Technology Education (1): 20 – 24Ivowi, U. M. O (undated) Gender Discrimination inSTM Education: Foremost Educational Services, Lagos.pp. 3 – 6.Nsofor, C. C. (2001) Cultural Impediments on Womenin Science, Technology and Mathematics Education.pp 48 – 51.Odebode, S. O. (2001) Re-examining Problems ofWomen Agricultural Science, Teachers in Nigeria. Acase of Kwara State. In Olanitemi. O B. (ed): 42 ndAnnual Conference Proceedings.ConclusionThis paper has attempted to re-examine gender-imbalancein Science, Technology and Mathematics educationin Nigeria and reviewed the rights of women byconsidering gender balance in Science, Technology andMathematics education.Women must therefore be encouraged to respond positivelyto Science, Technology and Mathematics instructionsand select careers in science-related disciplinesto check imbalances. A favourable learning environmentwill be help to eliminate some problems militatingagainst women in engaging in Science, Technologyand Mathematics Education.ReferencesAdeyegbe, S. O. (2000) Packaging Science, Technologyand Mathematics Education to Maximize StandardsProgression and Continuity: Challenges of the 21 stCentury, Keynote Address at the 4 th Annual Conferenceof STAN (Lagos Branch), held at the University of Lagos,Akoka, Lagos. 19 – 21July.Akpan, E. J. U (1987) Winning More Students for Science:Factors of Attitude, Sex, Intelligence, Personalityand Type of School, Proceedings of 28 th Annual Conference.123