Self-concept and attittude of girls towards the study of science in the Cape Coast metropolis

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate the self-concept and attitude of girls towards the study of science. Purposive sampling was used to select two single-sex female and simple random sampling technique used to select two mixed sex senior high schools in the Cape Coast Metropolis. A total of 400 student girls drawn from four schools took part in the study. A 67-item questionnaire with reliability coefficient via Cronbach’s alpha as 0.75 was used for the data collection. Descriptive statistics and the independent t-test at alpha level 0.05 were used in the analysis of data. The study revealed that girls perceive science to be difficult and that parents and teachers influence greatly their self-concept and attitude towards science respectively. There was no significant difference between the self-concept of girls in single-sex and mixed schools. However, there was a significant difference (t = -5.187; p = 0.000) between the attitudes of girls in single-sex and mixed schools towards the study of science with girls in single-sex schools exhibiting a higher positive attitude towards science. The study recommended the need to educate parents to understand their role in building the self-concept and encouraging their children’s interest in science. The school, through the teacher should provide adequate direction and support to female science learners.