This year, 89,486 students will be sponsored by the government to pursue their preferred degree programs out of whom 57,687 will proceed to STEM related courses, more than double the number admitted last year.
This means six in every 10 students enrolled at university this year will pursue science related courses.
Education CS George Magoha asked stakeholders to come up with interventions to bridge the gender gap.
Male students will account for 36,189 of all STEM placements while female students will get 21,498 places.
A breakdown of these statistics shows in every three students in a science class only one will be female.
A similar trend is evident in technology courses where in every 10 students only four will be female.
KUCCPS statistics paint an even grimmer picture in the engineering and technology courses, which are almost fully male dominated.
In engineering, 78 per cent of those enrolled are male leaving a lean 22 per cent for their female counterparts.
However, the gap narrows in sciences where 56 per cent of those enrolled are male compared to 44 per cent female.
Mathematics and agriculture also attracted more males.
Unesco gender and science programme specialist Alice Ochanda explains that despite boys and girls sitting together in class, gender gap still remains big.
This has created a narrative that makes girls afraid to study the “big scary sciences”.
