Influence of gender on accounting students’ academic achievement and retention in secondary schools in Anambra State, Nigeria

Abstract

There have been controversies on the influence of gender on academic performance of students in relation to the teaching method(s) used in the teaching and learning processes. Using discussion method of teaching, the researchers ascertained the effect of the method on male and female students’ academic performance in the teaching of accounting. Two research questions guided the study and two null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. Quasi experimental design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised 185 Senior Secondary (SS) II accounting students and the sample consisted of 58 accounting students purposively selected. Instrument for data collection was Accounting Achievement Test (AAT) validated by three experts. Test re-test was used to establish the reliability of the instrument and the reliability coefficient of 0.86 was obtained using Spearman Brown Prophecy formula. Data collected were analysed using mean scores for research questions and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) for the null hypotheses. Findings of the study showed that both male and female students taught accounting using discussion method of teaching obtained higher post test scores. Also, there was no significant difference in the mean achievement scores of male and female students taught accounting using discussion method of teaching.

Keywords: Academic achievement, Discussion method of teaching, Gender, Secondary school