Since childhood, Theresa Charles had nurtured the dreams of becoming a medical doctor. Inspired by her teacher at primary school, she envisioned medicine as a career path that embodied her passion for humanity and also went against the social norms in her hometown of Song, a local government area in the Nigerian state of Adamawa.
After she ventured into science class in her first year in senior secondary school, however, Theresa was greeted with opposition from her family.
Having heard her son (who had been admitted into a science programme) complain repeatedly about his arduous coursework at university, Theresa’s mother was determined not to allow her daughter to face the same struggle. The family soon decided that Theresa shouldn’t study a science-oriented course.
The perception that science subjects entailed much hard work and stress is not uncommon in Song. Like Theresa, many young schoolgirls who once dreamt of becoming doctors and nurses abandon their aspirations in favour of courses in arts and humanities, perceived to be less demanding.
“I don’t like physics,” said 18-year-old Zarau Ahmad, who once aspired to become a nurse. “I heard it’s really complex, and during exams, teachers expect you to reproduce exactly what they taught you.”
Why are girls turning from STEM subjects?
A survey of all the public science secondary schools in Adamawa by Prime Progress found that Song had the lowest representation of girls in science classes. This aligns with a 2019 report by the Adamawa State Census (ASC), which highlights stark gender disparities in science education.
For example, one of the surveyed classes contained 20 male students in contrast to 8 female students.
Aminu Abubakar, the junior principal at the Government Day Secondary School in Song, attributed the gender disparity to entrenched stereotypes. Convinced that science demands strength and labour, many parents consider it an unsuitable career path for their girl child and, consequently, push them into the arts.
“The female students think that women are not expected to take up leadership positions in hospitals,” Abubakar remarked. “They also feel that engineering courses involve climbing fences or dealing with industries. They see themselves as those who can only do house chores.”
According to a report by the World Bank Group, such stereotypes are among the primary reasons for the low participation of women in STEM education in low- and middle-income countries.
Beyond societal beliefs are also late school resumptions, as one teacher put it.
Usman Suleiman, who teaches English at the Government Arabic Secondary School in Song, explained that many female students typically resume late for a new school term, at which time the science classes had already begun. “Feeling unable to catch up, they choose art classes instead,” he said.
No laboratories, no learning
Yet for Simon Yohanna, a senior master at the Government Girls Senior Secondary School in Kelele, the apparent lack of science laboratories in many Song public schools was to blame.
“It’s difficult to teach science effectively without the necessary laboratory equipment,” he lamented, highlighting the struggles faced by many science teachers in Song without support from the government.
As Yohanna explained, many female students in Song are averse to the arithmetic calculations common in physics and chemistry and avoid science classes for this reason. They favour art subjects, which invariably contain no maths.
Higher cost of STEM education
Yunusa Musa, who teaches marketing at the Government Girls’ Senior Secondary School in Kekele, credited the preference for art courses among parents in Song to the high cost of STEM education.
“In university, you need hundreds of thousands to sponsor your daughter to study medicine or engineering. Not every parent can afford that,” he said, adding that STEM-based degrees required longer periods of study.
In a blog post commemorating the 2015 United Nations International Day of the Girl Child, an academic from Bayero University in Kano recalled her struggle “to support myself financially, [which] had a real impact on my grades.”
Policy Shortcomings and the Need for Reform
In response to these challenges, the Adamawa State government designed its Medium-Term Sector Strategy (MTSS) in 2022 to be implemented over a three-year period starting from 2023. Three years on, the state policy has fallen short of its goals, as schoolgirls in the state grapple with a lack of quality education.
Prime Progress has previously reported on the limitations confronting the MTSS, especially with regard to the infrastructural gaps affecting girls’ education in Adamawa.
Beyond the ineffective implementation of the MTSS, the absence of a comprehensive Education Sector Plan (ESP) is also apparent, worsening the problems of girl-child education in Adamawa State.
Removing barriers to girls’ education
The Education Sector Plan (ESP) is considered a blueprint for educational reform in Nigeria, improving gender equality across all levels of the education system.
Creating this policy is done in part through the Gender-Responsive Education Sector Planning (GRESP), whose objectives are improving access, completion rates and gender balance in schools.
Maimunat Muhammad Salisu, a girl-child education advocate and project team lead at Grow Strong Foundation, which addresses gender-based violence and vulnerable children, emphasised the importance of employing “gender-sensitive strategies” in eliminating systemic barriers against girls’ interest in STEM education.
“Prioritising female science teachers and training all educators in gender-inclusive methods is also important. Schools should establish science clubs and mentorship programs featuring successful female scientists and engineers,” she explained, calling for collaboration between the government, parents and teachers to create equal opportunities in STEM for girls.
The Adamawa State government has begun implementing initiatives to address these concerns, according to Umar Garba Pella, the state’s commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development. Pella informed Prime Progress about the construction of a science and technical college in Hong, exclusively for female students.
“This specialised school will empower girls to excel in science and technology,” Pella said.
Pella added that the government is pursuing broader policies to get many more girls in the state to enrol in science courses.
While these government initiatives are under way, many schoolgirls in Adamawa continue to succumb to the bias against science education.
Theresa, having abandoned her dreams of becoming a clinician due to family pressure, now hopes to train as a teacher after secondary school.
Zarau, though not passionate about law, feels obligated to follow her family’s wishes for her to become a lawyer. “I’m in arts class as a result of my parents’ decision,” she said.
This report was published with collaborative support from ImpactHouse Centre for Development Communication and System Strategy and Policy Lab (SSPL).
Theresa Charles aspired to be a doctor, but societal and family pressures led her and many girls in Song, Adamawa, to abandon STEM pursuits. Societal stereotypes, viewing science as demanding and unsuitable for girls, coupled with late school resumptions and missing laboratory resources, discourage girls from pursuing science. A lack of funds further pushes families towards less expensive humanities courses. Despite the state government's initiatives, such as constructing a science school for girls, systemic biases still hinder girls' education in STEM fields.
Educational policies, like Adamawa's Medium-Term Sector Strategy (MTSS), have yet to realize their goals due to inadequate implementation and infrastructure. The ongoing absence of a comprehensive Education Sector Plan (ESP) exacerbates challenges. To overcome these barriers, gender-sensitive strategies, prioritizing female mentors in science and the establishment of science clubs, are crucial. Despite efforts, many girls' dreams, like Theresa’s, remain unfulfilled, as they adhere to familial preferences for non-science careers such as teaching and law.
