International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR) ISSN: 2319-7064 SJIF (2022): 7.942 Volume 12 Issue 4, April 2023 www.ijsr.net Licensed Under Creative Commons Attribution CC BY Factors Influencing Women’s Participation in Stem Programmes in Ghana Jemima Saah 1 , Gloria Armah 2 , Samuel Kwesi Asiedu Addo 3 , John Takyi-Bondzie 4 1 University of Education, Winneba, Ghana Email: mymasaah[at]gmail.com 2 University of Education, Winneba, Ghana Email: garmah73[at]yahoo.com 3 University of Education, Winneba, Ghana Email: samasieduaddo[at]gmail.com 4 University of Education, Winneba, Ghana Email: takyi.bondzie[at]gmail.com Abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate factors that influence women’s participation in STEM programmes in Ghana. A quantitative research approach with a descriptive survey as its design was employed. Respondents were 409 female students reading any of the STEM programmes from 3 public universities in Ghana. The instrument used in collecting data was a questionnaire. Data collected were coded and analysed using descriptive statistics from the SPSS. The study revealed that family and parental influence on STEM majors, societal influence and stereotypes, motivation, and mentorship are key factors serving as a major influence on female participation in STEM programmes. The study recommended among others that parents, guardians, chiefs, and opinion leaders in societies should get involved in encouraging girls and women into STEM education. Keywords: STEM, Participation, Motivation and Mentorship, Stereotypes, Influence 1. Introduction Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education is an approach that instructs science and mathematics disciplines by integrating technology and engineering (Bybee, 2010) . STEM Education has become an international topic of discussion over the past decade due to the changing global economy and workforce needs. A substantial body of research shows that many students develop increasingly negative attitudes to school science and mathematics across the primary and early secondary school years (Nardi& Steward, 2003; Rennie et al.2001). STEM forms an integral part of our daily lives irrespective of the sector we find ourselves and a lot of work needs to be done to promote appreciation for STEM in the early stages of education. According to Anamuah-Mensah (2000), the utilization of science, mathematics, and technology has been interlinked with the improvement in productivity and wealth creation of a nation. Saah and Asiedu-Addo (2021) are of the view that girls’ and women’s participation in STEM education needs to be considered in the context of their overall access to, and participation in, education. While access to education for girls and young women has globally improved, important disparities persist both among and within regions and countries. 2. Literature Survey A renewed commitment toward achieving parity in science education has been re-echoed in the policy goals (1 and 10) of the Education Strategic Plan aimed at providing girls equal opportunity to participate at all levels of education (MOE, 2003). Significant progress has been made in higher education, where the enrolment of female students almost doubled between 2000 and 2014, with young women constituting the majority of students at Bachelor’s and Master’s degree levels globally. However, the percentage of female students who continue with doctoral degrees drops by more than 7% compared to those enrolled at the Master’s level (UIS, 2016). According to the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA, 2018) reports, engagement in science is determined by two factors – the way that girls and boys perceive themselves, that is, what they are good at and what is good for them, and their attitudes towards science. In terms of the population worldwide, women are more than men, yet men continue to outnumber women in STEM, especially at the upper levels of these professions (Ceci et al., 2009). In the basic education level in Ghana, girls and boys take mathematics and science courses in roughly equal numbers, and about as many girls as boys leave high school prepared to pursue science and engineering majors in college. Among first-year college students, women are much less likely than men to say that they intend to major in. By graduation, men outnumber women in nearly every science and engineering field, and in some, such as physics, engineering, and computer science, the difference is dramatic, with women earning only 20 percent of bachelor's degrees (Hill et al., 2010). Women's representation in STEM declines further at the graduate level, and yet again in the transition to the workplace. Women continue to be underrepresented in the most mathematically intensive fields in STEM (National Science Foundation, 2016). Debate on gender equity in education currently revolves around females in mathematics and science domains. Much of the debate about school science and mathematics, therefore, has focused around Paper ID: SR23424121234 DOI: 10.21275/SR23424121234 1695