| Summary: | This research builds on the research carried out for my Institution Focussed Study (IFS) in which I explored the factors that influenced male and female enrolment in the science and technology subjects with special reference to one large Senior Secondary School, Gaborone Senior Secondary School, in Botswana. The study followed the observation that there were very few female students enrolled in the University of Botswana's Faculty of Engineering and Technology (FET). Application and enrolment procedures from the University showed no gender bias in recruitment procedures, therefore I looked at secondary education, which is the major determinant of university recruitment. Evidence from the IFS suggested, amongst other things, that we were about to see an increased application and enrolment of females in the BSc year 1. The research for my thesis involved both a replication and extension of the IFS. The main research methods used were semi-structured interviews and questionnaires. In the replication phase, I worked with Year 5 students generally and relevant staff in two additional schools, Lobatse Senior Secondary School (Lob Sec) and St Joseph's College (St Joe). In the extension phase I worked more intensively with male and female students studying the triple sciences in these two schools, these being the students from whom the University would select its future science and engineering students. I interviewed the following: students and staff members from a lower secondary school; staff members from Lob Sec and St Joe; lecturers from the University and the Botswana College of Agriculture and Ministry of Education Officials. The replication and extension studies both indicate that there will probably be an increased participation of girls in university science and technology subjects in the near future. The present imbalances in BSc recruitment can be explained by girls' relatively lower examination performance in science, both at the end of junior secondary schooling — which governs entry to prestigious triple science courses in senior secondary schools — and at the end of senior secondary school itself. I Iowever, they are progressively narrowing the gap in both these areas. Entry to University engineering courses is more difficult to predict. However substantial percentages of girls in the study indicated that their career preferences fall along science and engineering, and both 'providers' and 'consumers' of science and engineering products expressed the need for girls to follow these courses. I concluded that there must be a more meaningful programme to further increase girls' participation in science and technology.
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