Choice of Practical Subjects: Is It Still a Gendered Phenomenon? A Case of Selected Co-educational Secondary Schools in Bulawayo Metropolitan Province, Zimbabwe

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to find out whether the selection of practical subjects in schools was still a gendered phenomenon. The motivators were findings of an investigation on business imitations in the Bulawayo Metropolitan Province, which revealed that men and women still participated in gender based entrepreneurial activities. A qualitative approach, which utilised the case study design was adopted for this study. Self-administered open-ended questionnaires were used as data collection instruments. The sample comprised 5 Heads of Departments, 15 practical subject educators and 75 students from 2 purposively selected co-educational schools in the Bulawayo Metropolitan Province. Data were analysed according to research questions. Findings showed that there were attempts to break the gender barriers as some girls were now studying subjects that were previously male dominated and some boys had enrolled for subjects that were in the past the preserve of girls. The study concluded that there was a gradual paradigm shift in the mind-sets of school authorities, learners and some parents. Recommendations were that school authorities should continue to intensify campaigns on de-constructing the learners’ gender stereo typed mind-sets and engage various stakeholders in the change process to enable learners to comfortably fit in a globally competitive environment.