Abstract: Increasing the participation of females in higher education, especially in the programs on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) courses, is a crucial objective for socio economic development in Tanzania. While policy interventions have successfully increased the retention of girls in lower secondary education, the participation of girls in STEM courses in university level remains low. Based on the premises of the Social Cognitive Theory and Expectancy-Value Theory, the current paper will assess the effectiveness of instructional leadership strategies in encouraging higher education aspirations among female students. Using the convergent mixed-method approach, the study was conducted in public secondary schools in Morogoro Municipality. Quantitative data were collected from the simple random sample of 391 female secondary students taken from the targeted population of 17,448 students using the formula of Yamane's career guidance diagnostic feedback (1967). The qualitative part of the study involved 10 Heads of Schools and 20 Career Guidance Teachers. Ten schools were randomly selected from the total of 32 public secondary schools. Each selected school had two Career Guidance Teachers and therefore, 20 Career Guidance Teachers were included in the study using total population sampling method. The total study sample was composed of 421 participants. Results of the study showed that female students perceived the strategies used by school leadership to be insufficient for encouraging their tertiary aspirations because routine supervision focused predominantly on ensuring administrative compliance and syllabus completion without taking care of the prospective career guidance, diagnostic feedback, and goal setting. The current paper argues that the current school leadership practices are more focused on the process of preparation for the examinations than on encouraging the self-efficacy toward further education of female students. Recommendations include the reform of supervisory rubrics according to gender-based engagement criteria, implementation of the university alignment counseling policy, and inclusion of academic consulting hours in the master timetable.
Keywords: female STEM aspirations, higher education transition, instructional leadership strategies, school supervision, tertiary self-efficacy.
Title: Effectiveness of Instructional Leadership Strategies in Female Students' Higher Education Aspirations in Public Secondary Schools: Evidence from Morogoro Municipality, Tanzania
Author: Alfred Malugu, Annamary Peter, Reginald M. Lyamuya
International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research
ISSN 2348-3156 (Print), ISSN 2348-3164 (online)
Vol. 14, Issue 4, October 2026 - December 2026
Page No: 42-51
Research Publish Journals
Website: www.researchpublish.com
Published Date: 06-October-2026
