Volume 7, Issue 12, December – 2022 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology ISSN No:-2456-2165 IJISRT22DEC1384 www.ijisrt.com 1658 Moderating Role of Gender in the Influence of Gender Stereotype on Science Performance among Secondary School Students in Migori County, Kenya Gor Polycarp Owino 1 Department of Educational Psychology Maseno University P.O. Box 333-40105 Maseno, Kenya Lucas Othuon 2 Department of Educational Psychology Maseno University P.O. Box 333-40105 Maseno, Kenya Abstract:- We carried out this study with the purpose of establishing the influence of gender stereotype on performance in science across gender. We sampled 175 students in Form 4 in Migori County. Our study used questionnaires, interview schedules and focus group discussion guide to collect data. Subsequently, we used descriptive statistics, correlation and linear regression to analyze quantitative data. We organized qualitative data into themes that emerged and interpreted. Boys reported a higher level of science performance (Mean=39.20) than girls (Mean=30.80). This mean difference was statistically significant at α=.05 (t=3.89, p=.00). Girls displayed a higher level of gender stereotype (Mean=1.67) than boys (Mean=1.66). However, this difference was not statistically significant (t (173) = -.187, p = .852). Further, for both boys and girls, gender stereotype significantly correlated with performance in science; boys had r=-.211 (p=.018, n=200) and girls had r=-.171 (p=.035, n=127) indicating a stronger relationship for boys than girls. Gender stereotype predicted performance in science with b=-4.917 (p=.013, n=327) implying that higher levels of gender stereotype were associated with lower levels of performance in science. We recommend that ways of minimizing gender stereotype among secondary school students should be established because it is negatively associated with performance in science. Keywords:- Gender Stereotype, Kenya, Science Performance. I. INTRODUCTION Weak performance in sciences among girls still creates a big challenge in the field of science (Diane, 2003). In spite of the strides made in the last 20 years, female students unlike their male counterparts still shy away from taking physics technical science and Math courses in high school. Consequently, this sees a lower number of female students enrolling for Mathematics and science at the college level. The subject and course selection at the high school level is key determiner in college placement and career choice path (Diane, 2003). Science, Technology, Mathematics and Engineering (STEM) field has been hit by a great labour shortage challenge as most women fail to enroll for courses in this field. Only 28% of global researchers are women. This percentage however varies from one region to the other (UNESCO, 2016). A greater under representation of women is witnessed in the STEM field. This under representation of women is as a result of a number of factors including cultural and societal discrimination, school and labour market marginalization of women (UNESCO, 2016). Data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (2019) indicate that in general, Kenya has 21,400 female STEM profession and 52,400 male professionals. Only 30 % of university students who take STEM courses are females This weak representation of females in science is again reflected in the performance of sciences down the ladder. Performance in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination for instance attests to this worrying trend as boys have outshone girls in all science related subjects from the year 2017 to 2019. Performance in science subjects has not been any better in Migori County as well. Although the average national result for all sciences in the 2018 KCSE stood at an average mark of 27.78% for boys and 24.98% for girls, giving a gender disparity of 2.8% in science performance, female students in Migori County scored 22.63% in sciences while male students scored 26.65% in the same giving a 4.02% gender difference (Migori County Education’s Office Records, 2020). This goes against the Millennium Development Goals which advocates for gender parity in STEM performance and promotion of STEM subjects for attainment of Vision 2030. Although some studies show that males perform better than females in sciences, other studies have indicated no difference in the level of science performance across gender. Other studies have even indicated a better female performance in science than males. One cannot therefore conclusively say that males perform better than females in science or vice versa. It is on this basis of conflicting findings Based on these conflicting findings that we sought to establish the gender difference in science performance. This variation in performance could be possibly explained by the fact that society considers science as a masculine field (Fox et al., 2006; Hill et al., 2010). Students internalize these societal perceptions and define their capabilities based on these parameters. Murphy and Whitelegg (2006) report that female students may choose to drop science courses if the society considers them as