Female
Marginalization in Vocational and Technical Education in Kenya: A case Study
Margaret
M. Ngau
Abstract:
In many developing countries, there exist well entrenched perceptions,
expectations, stereotypes and attitudes towards girls and women on the role they
can play in the community and in national development. In Kenya, the majority of
girls and women are concentrated in the unskilled and semi-skilled, low status
and low-paying occupations. Women’s employment problems originate from their
low participation in education and especially in vocational and technical
education, particularly in the technically oriented courses.
In 1985, the Kenya
government launched the 8-4-4 education system which introduced vocational and
technical subjects throughout the educational system. In addition, there are
many institutions that offer vocational and technical training courses. There
are over 600 Youth Polytechnics, which admit mainly primary school leavers, 17
Institutes of Technology (ITs) and 19 Technical Training Institutes (TTIs) which
admit both primary school and “O” level (secondary school) graduates. There
are 3 National Polytechnics and 4 Public Universities, which admit the cream
among those who successfully complete secondary education.
Despite the government’s
recognition of the importance of science and technology in national development
and parallel efforts to expand the necessary facilities, female representation
in vocational and technical education remains low. In fact, there is a steady
decline of female enrolment from basic education to technical and university
education in Kenya. At the primary school level, female enrolment is almost at a
par with that of males, about 48.9%. At the secondary school level, female
enrolment slightly declines to about 42.8%. In 1990, women formed 35.7% in
Technical Training Institutes. In 1989, women constituted only 23.4% of all the
students enrolled in Institutes of Technology. Between 1976 and 1987, women
never constituted more than 15% of the Bachelor of Science enrolment in the
pubic universities, and only 4% of the engineering students were women.
In a recent study on
Female Participation and Course Choice in Institutes of Technology in Kenya,
I found that females were not only under-enrolled in the seven institutes
surveyed but they were extremely under-represented in the technically oriented
courses. Out of a total sample of 811 trainees, only 32 females (3.9%) were in
the traditionally male-dominated courses like Motor Vehicle Mechanics,
Mechanical Engineering, Water Technology, Masonry, Carpentry, Plumbing and
Business Education. Conversely, women students formed the majority of the 373
(46%) sampled trainees who were enrolled in the traditionally “feminine”
courses such as Home Economics, Secretarial Studies, Food Technology,
Institutional Management, Textile Technology and Garment Making. Out of a total
enrolment of 1917 trainees in the surveyed institutes, females were 675 or
35.2%. The traditionally feminine courses are expected to prepare girls and
women for their socially set roles of motherhood and home making rather than
towards economic productivity and for leadership. On the other hand, the
technically oriented courses prepare the participants for both wage and
self-employment, mainly in the formal sector.
Based on the recent research
findings, the growing literature in this field and the government of Kenya
policy papers and reports, this paper analyses the factors that lead to female
marginalization in vocational and technical education in Kenya.