The link between technical knowledge of the youth and their technical abilities: The role of gender

The paper presents the part of research for determining the link between technical knowledge of Lithuanian youth and their independence in performing jobs connected with engineering. It has also been attempted to trace whether exists any difference in this respect between the groups of boys and girls. For the research sample, young people from secondary and adult secondary schools, vocational schools, business and technical colleges, as well as university students have been chosen. Tests on theoretical technical knowledge and applied technical knowledge and questionnaire “Young people and engineering” have been employed as assessment instruments. The research leads to the conclusion independence in performing technical jobs is an important in acquiring applied technical knowledge for boys, while girls are less influenced by it. Analysis of the link between theoretical technical knowledge and experience gained in this field leads to the conclusion that level of theoretical knowledge of independent girls is higher than that of independent boys.