Mathematics and physical science choices made by pupils in selected Eastern Cape high schools : an investigation into the factors influencing the different choice patterns of boys and girls

摘要

The disparate numbers of boys and girls who elect to continue with mathemalics and/or physical science in the higher slandards of the school system has recently attracted much research atlention and the complexity of the interrelaledness of causal factors has become obvious. The broad aim of the study was to investigale the significant drop-out rate of girls at the end of the junior secondary phase of education (approximate age of fourteen lo fifteen). This was to be carried out for mathematics and physical science and undertaken using a cross-sectional and a longitudinal study. The cross-sectional study entailed administering mathematics and physical science attitude questionnaires to 3531 standard six, seven and eight pupils from 4 co-educational, 2 allgirls' and 2 all-boys' schools, from middle and upper socioeconomic communities with similar language and cultural backgrounds . The longitudinal study involved pupils from two coeducational schools and one all-girls' school. It was a progressively-focused study starting with questionnaires administered to 358 standard six girls and boys, narrowing down to questionnaires and interviews used with 50 girls and 28 boys in standard seven and finally to interviews with 10 girls from standard eight. The parents of these ten girls were interviewed at the end of the study. The attilude questionnaires yielded strong sex differences which favoured the boys in both subjects for all the attitudes measured and also pointed to a progressive deterioralion of altitudes over the three-standard span. They also established significant differences in attitudes which favoured the pupils from Single-sex schools. It was further concluded that the girls were more strongly guided by their attitudes when making their subject-choice decisions. In the longitudinal study, reasons were suggested for pupils either taking or dropping mathematics and physical science. The introduction of algebra in the first year of high school presented a problem to pupils. In physical science, electricity was singled out as giving the subject a male bias. Socialization influences in the home were the main issue dealt with from the parent interviews . Sex-roles and stereotypes were dealt with in depth. Recommendations were made involving classroom strategies, curriculum possibilities, school policies and further research