Gender differences in performance in integrated science among pre service secondary school teachers in Ghana

The purpose of the study was to find out gender differences in performance in Integrated Science among third year pre-service senior high school science teachers at the University of Education, Winneba, Ghana. A sample of examination results for five courses taken by sixty-eight students comprising thirty-four males and thirty-four females was used for the study. A quantitative assessment of students’ performance in those five courses in Integrated Science was done using documentary analysis of their examination results to determine the gender difference in performance. The gender difference in performance was subjected to a two-tailed t-test analysis using SPSS. The significant difference in performance was based on a p value ≤ 0.05. Findings of the study revealed that there was no significant gender difference in their performance. The study recommended that even though there was no statistical difference in the performance in Integrated Science between male and female pre-service senior high school science teachers, there is the need to conscientize pre-service female science teachers on the ability of females to equally study STEM.

Key words: Gender, STEM, Integrated Science, Pre-Service Teachers, Performance