Counselling as a Panacea for Resolving the Causes of Gender Imbalance in Student Enrolment in Engineering Technology Programme

Abstract

The study investigated the place of counselling in resolving the causes of gender imbalance in students’ enrollment in engineering technology in the era of emerging technology at Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike Ikwo (AE-FUNAI). The study adopted a qualitative design. Purposive sampling procedures were used to select 25 students from the Faculty of Engineering Technology, faculty officers, and the admission office in (AE-FUNAI), Ebonyi State, Nigeria. Data were collected through personal interviews, enrollment records, and a semi-structured questionnaire. The study's findings showed that there is a gender imbalance in students’ enrollment in Engineering Technology in favour of males due to lack/insufficiency of competent science teachers in secondary schools, lack of school counsellors, lack of technological awareness, etc. The study recommended employing sound, qualified, competent, and effective science teachers and school counsellors in all secondary schools, creating technological awareness through orientations, seminars and training, and introducing artificial intelligence that will technologically assist the students, especially female students, to appreciate emerging technologies, and awarding scholarships to all female students who wish to study engineering technology in the universities.