Influence of gender and school type on academic self efficacy among upper basic secondary school students in Ilorin metropolis,Kwara State

Abstract

Gender and school type remain important variables in the assessment of students’ academic self-efficacy and it is a topical issue that calls for investigation. This study examined the influence of gender and school type on academic self-efficacy among upper-basic school students in Ilorin Metropolis in Kwara State. Stratified and simple random sampling techniques were used to select three hundred (300) respondents (150 public and 150 private upper basic secondary school students in Ilorin metropolis in Kwara State. An adapted version of the Academic Self-efficacy Scale (ASES) by Owen and Froman (1988) was used for data collection. The instrument contains 20 items rated on a 4-Likert-type scale. The instrument was validated by three experts in the Department of Social Science Education, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria, and a reliability coefficient of.67 was found for the said instrument used in the study. To analyze the data collected from the study, descriptive statistics such as frequency counts, percentages, mean, and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions while a t-test was used to test the research hypotheses. The findings of the study revealed that: i. 165 representing had a high level of academic self-efficacy, ii. There is a significant difference in the male and female students academic self-efficacy and iii. There is no significant difference in the student’s academic self-efficacy based on school type. Based on the findings of the study, the researchers recommended that schools should implement gender-specific support mechanisms through targeted interventions such as mentorship programs and workshops designed to address the unique needs and challenges faced by each gender in their academic pursuits. Keywords: Academic self-efficacy, Gender variation, and School type.