E-ISSN 2281-4612 ISSN 2281-3993 Academic Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies MCSER Publishing, Rome-Italy Vol 2 No 10 October 2013 93 The State of Gender Representation in Physics in Federal College of Education, Pankshin-Nigeria Macmillan Mafulul Josiah Department of Physics Federal College of Education Pankshin Plateau State-Nigeria Doi:10.5901/ ajis.2013.v2n10p93 Abstract This paper delved into ascertaining the state of the art of gender representation in Physics in Federal College of Education, Pankshin-Nigeria. The data used in the study were obtained from admissions made into the Department of Physics in the College for the academic sessions 2008/2009 to 2012/2013. A total of 257 samples were used and the simple percentage statistic was employed to analyze the data. The results revealed the persistence of female under- achievement in Physics. Recommendations were proffered, which when followed, may reduce or eliminate female under-representation in Physics. Such recommendations included sensitizing parents and the Nigerian society on the need to desist from stereotyping and religious beliefs that are harmful to education. Keywords: Gender, Representation, Physics, Federal College of Education, Pankshin-Nigeria. 1. I ntroduction Gender, as defined by Merriam-Webster Incorporated (2006), is the behavioural, cultural, or psychological traits typically associated with one sex. In the context of this work, gender is a term employed to distinguish between male and female human beings based on their differing physiological structures. It has been documented that the female gender has been a victim of discrimination in all works of like. This discrimination has led to organizing conferences such as the World Summit for Children, New York in 1990, World Conference on Education for All (EFA) in 1990, the Pan-African Conference on Education of Girls (in Ouagadougou) in 1993 and the United Nations Conference on Women Development (in Beijing, China) in 1995 (Ogunleye-Adetona, 2003). Gender discrimination manifests itself in varying faces. Some of these faces, as outlined by John and Davou (2008), include discrimination in profession. Women are always at the receiving end or discriminated against when it comes to issues of occupational choice. Ogunleye (2001) concurred that female students are unanimous in calling for Nigerian Government to provide equality of opportunities and job career prospects for the female gender to study Physics. The importance of Physics as a requirement for the socio-economic development of any nation cannot be over-emphasized. Such a development hinges on scientific and technological development. Ogunleye (2001) is of the strong opinion that the technological potentials of any nation could be more accurately gauged by the quality of its Physics education, for without Physics, the technological culture of her citizens cannot be firmly rooted. A mere observation of the female gender in science world-wide indicates a gross under- representation of women in science. In a study on the participation of women in science courses in Nigerian Colleges of Education, Oyedokun (2001) ascertained that only 25.95% of the total 1,029 students admitted to study Physics in the 1997/1998 academic session were female. In the 1998/1999 session, only 36.38% of the total 962 students admitted to study Physics were female.