Abstract: The study sought to explore the perception of pre-service education students on the status and socio-cultural beliefs about the teaching profession in selected public and private universities in Kenya. Correlational research design and a concurrent mixed method approach was employed in this study. The respondents in this study were third and fourth year pre-service education students. from six selected public and private chartered universities in Kenya which had been in existence for the last twenty years and offering teacher education. Purposive, cluster and convenience sampling methods were used. Data were gathered by the use of questionnaires and interviews. In data analysis, frequencies, means, standard deviation, linear regression and Pearson product moment correlation coefficient were used. The pre-service education students were found to have a low perception of the status of the teaching profession and believed that teaching is a hard work which is emotionally draining, although they perceived teaching to be a profession that requires high levels of expert knowledge.

Abstract: Despite all effort that has been shown in addressing the education issues that affect the female students, there is still a gap. Thus, the need to study socio-cultural dynamics influencing management of gender participation in schooling among Mijikenda community. The study was conducted to answer a research question; what is the influence of perceived gender roles on the management of gender participation in schooling among Mijikenda community learners in public secondary schools in Kwale County? This study was guided by the Systems theory and augmented by Maslow’s theory of hierarchy of needs. The study employed a mixed approach and was based on descriptive survey design. The study population was 2209 Mijikenda girls and boys who sat for KCSE in 2018 and 2019 and 49 head teachers at the secondary schools in Kwale County. The sample size was 310 participants. The study found that there was an influence of perceived gender roles on the management of gender participation in schooling among Mijikenda community learners in public secondary schools in Kwale County. There were different influences of gender participation in schooling regarding the marriage expectations for girls. Thus, the study concludes that while some of the identified items were negative for the gender balances, others were positive. The study recommends that the Ministry of Education initiate education programmes that promote enrolment, transition, and academic performance in Kwale county.