The Role of Mentoring and Teacher Attitudes in Enhancing Girl-Child Participation in Chemistry

This study investigated how mentoring and teacher attitudes influence and enhance the participation of the girl-child in chemistry education. The study adopted a descriptive research design. The study population comprised all female students enrolled in Public Senior Secondary Schools within the Egor Local Government Area of Edo State, totalling 5,574 respondents. The instrument used for the study was a questionnaire modified from Oyakhirome (2021) with a reliability index of 0.77 using Cronbach Alpha. Multistage sampling techniques, including systematic sampling and simple random sampling, were employed to choose the study sample. Findings showed that the respondents agreed that mentoring enhances the girl-child participation in chemistry. Also, respondents agreed that the attitude of teachers enhances the girl-child participation in chemistry. For the hypotheses tested, it was discovered that there was a significant difference in the extent to which mentoring enhances the girl-child participation in chemistry based on location. There was a difference in the extent to which mentoring enhances the girl-child participation in chemistry based on location. The study emphasized how instructor attitudes and mentoring greatly increase girls' involvement in chemistry. The study concluded that girls' enthusiasm and confidence in STEM are encouraged by supportive instruction and female role models. Even though previous research indicated that parental engagement is crucial in overcoming socio-cultural barriers, respondents did not generally view it as influential. When these elements are strengthened together, girls' long-term success and engagement in chemistry can be increased. It was recommended amongst others that career days in schools should target girls, bringing in successful women across various disciplines as speakers, and counsellors should be trained to encourage girls to explore fields in which they are underrepresented.