Gender and Academic Achievement of Students in Economics
Abstract
The study of gender differences and academic achievement of students in Economics was conducted in Ukanafun Local Government Area. Three research questions and hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. The study adopted quasi-experimental research design. The population of the study comprised of one thousand, two hundred and thirty-eight (1,238) Economics students from the five (5) public secondary schools in the study area.
A simple random sampling technique was used to select 200 respondents in the study. Economics Achievement Test (EAT) was the main instrument used for data collection. The data generated from the instrument were analyzed using independent t-test statistics. The results showed that there is a significant difference between academic achievement of male and female students in Economics. It also indicated that there is a significant difference between academic achievement of male students from rural and urban areas in Economics.
It also revealed that there is a significant difference between academic achievement of female students from rural and urban area in Economics. It was therefore recommended that Economics teachers should be changing their methods of teaching as male and female students do not adapt to one method of teaching at the same time to improve their academic achievement in the subject.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Gender is a natural status of male and female. It is one of the factors that influence students learning and achievement in many school subjects. Kever (2020) defined it as a cultural constructs that distinguishes the roles behaviour, mental and emotional characteristics between male and female developed by the society.
Psychologically, Okoro (2022) described students’ gender in secondary schools to encompass male and female adolescents whom a prospective teacher would meet during classroom instruction. Their chorological age spans in years is between twelve and twenty. The author posits that from the time a student enters school until he leaves by his growth and experiences which becomes dominant factors in the choice of career as well as later performance and generate achievement in the chosen professions. However, gender differences have become one in the hot list among the critical issue around the world.
Hausmann, Tyson and Zahidi (2019) reported that there is no country in the world that has yet reached equality between men and women in different critical area such as economic participation and education. Research on gender difference in academic achievement offers educators information on implications and guidance on specific directions to take. In mathematics and science in particular, gender difference are well documented and reveal certain stereotypes perpetuated by society, school and families (Manning, 2023).
Gender differences can also manifest in students within the environment which each sex is exposed to. In the home, school, church and the larger society, each sex is treated, cared for, developed and brought up with the purpose of becoming like a self reliant and be capable of becoming like a self reliant and independent individual in the society. Thus, the kind of social, moral, emotional and intellectual sources are of great significance in shaping him or her personality and inculcating positive values towards academic achievement (Eneh and Nkang, 2021).
According to Anwana (2021), in advanced and civilized countries, the cultural roles expectation of boys and girls are known and clearly defined during childhood. Each sex is therefore trained along his or her identified career. In the Nigeria society, boys and girls only undergo different socialization experiences and they tend to learn different gender roles and behaviour patterns and hence develop different interest that later become the dominant factors in the acquisition of cognitive and motor-skill in one’s profession.
Gender and Academic Achievement of Students in Economics
In Economics, the performance of students may as well continue upon several factors, some of which are: hereditary, psychological, physical, social and other environmental variables. These factors which equally contribute to the sex constitution of a particular individual can influence positive or negative on the academic achievement of the students in Economics. It was based on this premise that this research attempted to investigate those gender factors that may influence academic achievement of students in Economics in Ukanafun Local Government Area.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Persistent poor academic performance of students in Economics is the major problem of this research. Despite the fact that learners differ in terms of gender and other characteristics, teachers still continue to treat them as if they were all alike and needed the same kinds of learning and other forms of common treatment.
Okoro (2022) noted that uniform treatment of learners at any level or in any subject area is erroneous because the same learning activities, teaching strategies and instructional content will not evoke the same achievements or responses from both sexes at any given time. This uniform treatment of students made many Economics students over the years to perform poorly in examinations. Also, the performance seems to follow a gender pattern. Since an empirical study had not been readily available to establish the truth of the observation.
The researcher thus undertook this research to find out if gender is a factor contributed to the poor performance of students in Economics in Ukanafun Local Government.
1.3 Purpose of the Study
The main purpose of the study was to examine gender difference on academic achievement of students in Economics in Ukanafun Local Government Area. Specifically, the objectives of the study are:
- To find out the academic achievement of male and female students in Economics.
- To find out the academic achievement of male students from rural and urban areas in Economics.
- To investigate out the academic achievement of female students from rural and urban areas in Economics.
1.4 Significance of the Study
The findings from this study will be of beneficial to a group of people including the students, teachers, school administrators, curriculum planners and prospective researchers in science and other subject areas.
To the students, the finding is expected to sharpen their minds towards positive self concept of themselves, their personality, characteristics and better learning. The findings of this study will expose the teachers, school administrators and curriculum planners to those gender characteristics that should be married into classroom management to really cater for gender difference in the school system. This knowledge would make them plan school lessons and other school programmes to meet its specific needs for each sex groups.
Finally, the outcome of this study will remain as a body of knowledge and literature to other researchers on related topics.
1.5 Research Questions
The following research questions were formulated to guide the researcher in the study:
- Is there any difference in academic achievement of male and female students in Economics?
- Is there any difference in academic achievement of male students from rural area and those from urban area in Economics?
- Is there any difference in academic achievement of female students from rural area and those from urban area in Economics?
1.6 Research Hypotheses
The following null hypotheses were formulated for the study:
- There is no significant difference in academic achievement of male and female students in Economics.
- There is no significant difference in academic achievement of male students from rural area and those from urban area in Economics?
- There is no significant difference in academic achievement of female students from rural area and those from urban area in Economics?
1.7 Limitation of the Study
The research is limited only to selected secondary schools in Ukanafun Local Government Area. The limitation is occasional by various reasons among which are:
- Time Constraint – The time given for the completion of the research work was not enough for the researcher to have more in-depth of the project as it was carried out along with other academic works.
- Financial Problem – Lack of funds to procure necessary materials for the study and high cost of transportation in getting to sampled schools constituted some hindrances.
1.8 Definition of Terms
Gender: This is the classification of the individual into either male or female.
Academic Achievement: This is measured as the capacity of a learner in terms examination scores or results in terms of the attainment in quantitative form of specified learning objectives in a given curriculum.
Students: As used in this study refers to as group of learners in both the secondary schools and at the higher institution of learning.
Economics: This is the science which studies human behaviour as a relationship between ends and scarce means which have alternative uses.
