Enhancing female teachers’ engagement, Self-efficacy, and performance in mathematics and science through continuous professional development training program in Rwanda

Female teachers in Mathematics and Science often face persistent challenges related to limited content knowledge, low self-efficacy, and underrepresentation in STEM fields. These barriers hinder their professional growth and impact on the quality of STEM education. This study aimed at investigating the contribution of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) program on female teachers’ self-efficacy, and content knowledge in Mathematics and Science. The study provided the intervention of training sessions addressing content areas where misconceptions were identified. A total of 178 Mathematics and Science female teachers were involved in this study from seven districts in Rwanda, among them 51 were Biology, 36 Physics, 36 Mathematics, and 55 Chemistry teachers. The study used a mixed research approach. In this regards, quantitative data were collected through standardized Mathematics and Science tests aligned with Rwandan competence-based curriculum to measure changes in subject mastery content while qualitative data were gathered though semi-structured interview to explore shifts in engagement and self-efficacy. The quantitative data were analyzed by using paired while qualitative data were analyzed using inductive and deductive techniques. The quantitative analysis demonstrated statistically significant post-training improvements in female teachers’ conceptual understanding across all four subject areas (p < 0.001). The computed learning gains reflected moderate but meaningful effects with values of 0.35, 0.33, 0.42, and 0.37 in Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, and Physics, respectively. Complementing the quantitative findings, qualitative insights revealed that the CPD program substantially enhanced female teachers’ self-efficacy in Mathematics and Science, particularly in relation to pedagogical competence, instructional engagement, and professional confidence. The obtained results prove that CPD programs play a critical role in enhancing female teachers’ engagement, self-efficacy, and performance in Mathematics and Science. Hence, the nationwide implementation of such CPD initiatives is recommended to sustain impact and promote gender equity in teaching.