International Journal of Academic Research in Progressive Education and Development

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Investigation into Parents’ Attitude towards Mathematics for Girls at Intermediate Level in FATA

Open access
The purpose of the study was to investigate parents’ attitude towards mathematics for girls and the factors affecting their attitude perceived by parents of the students in government Girls’ Colleges in Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) of Pakistan. Convenience and random sampling techniques were applied. A qualitative research approach was adopted to investigate the questions and an open-ended interview was the main data collecting tool of the study. Data were collected by using open-ended interviews from fifteen parents of those students who dropped mathematics at college level from two girls’ colleges in Khyber Agency. The collected data were analyzed by using codes and categories. The key findings of the study showed that the parents’ attitude towards mathematics for girls was negative. Socio-cultural constrains about math’s-related jobs, stereotype threat about girls for mathematics, lack of parents-college communication and lack of counseling services were the main factors responsible for negative attitude towards the subject. It was, therefore, recommended that parents awareness campaigns for math-girl future, arrangement of special classes by trained female teachers for diluting math’s phobia from students at primary level, creating new mathematics related jobs for female gender which are not contrary to their cultural values, provision of teachers and counseling services and establishing parents- teachers’ council in colleges were necessary.