A Gender Wise comparison of 21st Century Skills of Secondary School Learners

Abstract

Advancement in technology is a high demand of 21st century. This study focused at how well high school students understand important skills they need to learn for the modern world. The skills include thinking critically, using technology, and basic reading, writing, and arithmetic i.e., 3Rs skills and to compare these skills on the basis of gender. A sample of 200 male students and female students was used in this study.  A survey was conducted on a random sample of 200 using three scales for the measurement of their perceiving level of critical thinking, digital literacy, and test scores of 3Rs skills. Stratified random sampling was utilized. The data was analysed using t-test at 0.05 significance level. Analysis found that secondary school students perceive 21st century skills equally regardless of gender. It is concluded that females’ perceived level of critical thinking was higher, whereas both males and females were approximately equal on digital literacy skills and 3Rs skills. Consequently, the findings revealed that critical thinking skill as the noteworthy determinant of the 21^st century abilities and digital literacy ability. Whereas 3Rs abilities as non-significant determinant of the 21st century abilities between male and female students at secondary school level.