A Comparative Study of Performance of Male and Female Students in Selected Basic Engineering Courses at Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso

The importance of engineering in nation development cannot be overemphasized. This is because, the prosperity and economic well being of any country have direct link with technological knowhow of such a country. Hence, adequate and in-depth knowledge of basic engineering courses are required to become a successful engineer. This study was carried out to determine, if there were significant differences in the performance of male and female students in selected basic engineering courses at Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso. Secondary data in form of the results or scores for the past five years were collected from the examination officers of various departments, through the permission of their heads of departments. Essentially, cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of the students was used. Data were analysed using means and standard deviations at 95 % confidence level. Data were further subjected to Anova-tests. The trends of performance of students based on gender, courses, and as well as years of study were also investigated. The mean scores of 1.575, 2.40, 1.85, 2.875, 3.175 and 2.65 were obtained for female students for the period of five years in the six selected courses in the harmattan semester, while the corresponding mean scores for male students were 1.725, 1.725, 2.35, 3.40, 3.55 and 3.125. In the rain semester, the mean scores of 2.00, 3.20, 2.375, 2.775,1,775 and 2.675 were obtained for female students, while mean scores of 2.45, 3.625, 3.375, 3.125, 2.65 and 3.525 were obtained for male students. Statistics revealed that, there was significant difference in the overall performance between the male and female students in the six selected basic engineering courses in both harmattan and rain semesters. The study concluded that, the males are academically superiors to females in the six selected basic engineering courses examined.