Assessing Technical College Students' Biology Proficiency as Related to Gender and Performance in Biology in Nigeria

This study investigated biology proficiency in relation to gender and performance among 350 Nigerian technical college students from 5 elitist technical colleges in Lagos State, employing a quantitative research method within a descriptive survey design. Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics of frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation, alongside inferential statistics including independent samples t-test and multiple regression analysis. Findings revealed that technical college students from elitist schools displayed a high level of biology proficiency. Significant correlations were found among students conceptual understanding, procedural knowledge, strategic competence, adaptive reasoning, productive disposition, and overall performance in biology. While gender differences in biology proficiency appear to be diminishing across most subscales, subtle gender differences were observed in performance in biology in this study. Gender, conceptual understanding, productive disposition, adaptive reasoning, strategic competence, and procedural knowledge made statistically significant contributions to the variance in technical college students performance in biology. Based on this baseline study, it is recommended that future research in Nigeria should explore the biology proficiency of non-elitist schools, which constitute the majority of educational institutions in the country, to enable broader generalization of these findings.