Proceedings of the 3 rd International Conference on Future of Education, Vol. 3, Issue 1, 2020, pp. 1-10 Copyright © 2020 TIIKM ISSN 2630-7413 online DOI: https://doi.org/10.17501/26307413.2020.3101 Corresponding Author Email: *fberu@kibu.ac.ke Contextual Enablers and Hindrances of Girl Child Participation in STEM Education in a Kenyan County: A Case Study Kelonye Festus B. 1* , Odeo Isaac Ipara 2 , Ooko Selline 3 , Nashon Samson 4 & Juma Godfrey S. 5 1 Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Kibabii University 2 Faculty of Education and Social Sciences, Kibabii University 3 Department of Pure and Applied Sciences, Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology 4 Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy, University of British Columbia 5 Department of Mathematics, Kibabii University Abstract: In Kenya, student performance in sciences and Mathematics is still low compared to art- oriented disciplines. The poor performance has affected not only the Girl child’s interest in these disciplines but also the number of girls that take STEM-oriented programs at tertiary levels. Several mitigating measures have been enacted although the situation has not changed much. This paper reports a study that explored contextual enablers and hindrances of Girl Child participation in STEM education in a Western Kenyan county. The study employed a case study approach by administering structured questionnaires, interview schedule and focused group discussion guide for data collection. The data were analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative methods and revealed that: 1) lesson development that connected science concepts to activities in the local context motivated and improved girl child’s participation and performance in contextualized learning activities and 2), familiarity with the materials and tools used in planning and implementing contextualized learning activities evoked the girl child’s enthusiasm and courage to exchange knowledge and ask more curiosity focused questions. Also revealed were hindrances including: 1) teachers’ initial training that did not prepare them for this way of teaching and it was not and has not been modeled for them during their pre-service education or the ongoing professional development workshops; and 2) the exam driven nature of the curriculum serving as a hindrance to teacher innovation and creativity in instructional techniques. The study recommends a more creative and innovative teacher training system and focused research to monitor girl child participation and performance in STEM education. Keywords: Contextualized learning; Girl Child, STEM education; performance Introduction Background to the study Contextualized Teaching and Learning (CTL) can be interpreted differently by different scholars. However, in the study discussed in this paper, we employed Hull’s (1993) contextual learning theory to investigate the girl child participation in STEM Education activities in a Western Kenyan County. According to Hull (1993) and as conveyed in Anderson and Nashon (2013) as well as Nashon and Madera (2013), contextual learning involves the mind in seeking meaning in a context as well as relationships that make sense and resonate with one’s sociocultural background. Thus, as Nashon and Madera (2013) elaborate, contextual teaching and learning of science and for that matter STEM-based disciplines, “means using local contexts to explain scientific[/STEM- based] concepts or phenomena by showing how the concepts can be applied in solving local everyday problems” (p.2). In this way, student s engage in active learning since understanding is linked to the local environment, which they know and can connect what they know with new knowledge from the learning process (Hudson & Whisler; 2007). CTL has been associated with student engagement with and performance in STEM education (Spencer, Sunm & Ivry; 2006). However, many school curricula in Kenya still follow the traditional