Research Articles Base: Female Academic Performance

The effects of pregnancy on the academic performance of female students in higher institutions in Nigeria

The effects of pregnancy on the academic performance of female students in higher institutions in Nigeria   Introduction             Teenage pregnancy is simply defined as a teenaged or underage girl becoming pregnant. The term connotes that the girl has not yet reached legal adulthood before conceiving. A teenage girl may become pregnant because of various reasons or situations but all teenage pregnancies are a result of sexual activities either voluntary or not. One of the most traumatic and devastating effects of teenage pregnancy is making it difficult for the girl to continue with her education. Drop-out rates, repeaters, poor scoring and unable to graduate are the academic consequences of teenage pregnancy (Hofferth et al, 2001).               This paper proposes to explore how teenage pregnancy affects academic progression. As a student, pregnant teenagers are also expected to meet a minimum rate of academic progress. When we say academic progress, it means passing 50% of the credit points for the subjects that they are enrolled over the duration of the course. Progression status is based on course status, multiple fails and assessment guide. Research Questions             The key question that will be answered in this study is – how does teenage pregnancy affects the academic development? Other research questions are: 1)    How teenagers perceive the effects of their pregnancy and their education? 2)    Does being pregnant contribute/support or limit the desire to finish schooling? 3)    How teenage pregnancy changes the studying patterns of the teenager? 4)    In what specific ways does teenage pregnancy affect the academic performance of the teenager? 5)    To what extent does teenage pregnancy affect the academic achievement of the teenager? Research Aim and Objectives             The main aim of this study is to evaluate how teenage pregnancy affects the academic progression of the teenagers. In lieu with this, the following research questions will be addressed: <ul style="margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in" type="disc"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt"> 	Determine the changes 	in academic performance, achievement and progressions of the teenagers when 	becoming pregnant</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 10.0pt"> 	Determine the 	perceptions, attitudes and beliefs of  the pregnant teenagers about their 	education</li> </ul> Methodology The theoretical framework I have chosen to utilize in conjunction with this research is an interpretivist one. Interpretivism is the necessary research philosophy for this study because it allows searching the ‘details of the situation to understand the reality or perhaps a reality working behind them’. Limitations inherent with this type of framework would include a susceptibility to projecting my subjectivities about teenager pregnancy in the context of the research study. I would tend to think that pregnant teenagers lose their appetite to continue and finish their education but this may not be the case. Concurrent with this theoretical framework are some pertinent research methodologies. The research strategy to be used is exploratory research because it aims to know more about the phenomenon teenage pregnancy. Exploratory research will enable the study to look at the problem in both descriptive and exploratory manner. This approach is a preferred mean of finding out “what is happening to seek new insights” or “to ask questions or to assess phenomena in a new light.” This study will use the principal ways of conducting exploratory research, which include: literature search; consulting the experts about the subject and conducting survey. My research will operate within the cross-sectional design, as I will be collecting data on more than one case, using structured questionnaires and document analysis. The benefit of this would be that Ì would be able to focus on the breadth and depth of the research. Moreover, by exploring the breath of the topic, I am increasing my validity and the truthfulness of my research, and thereby minimize the confounding variables. The primary sampling technique to be used is the purposive sampling. This non-probability sampling refers to sampling with specific criteria in mind. As such, the researcher will survey pregnant teenagers aged 14-19 and they must be attending schools at present. Data gathered using these instruments will be collated for analysis. Data analysis will primarily be characterized by statistical approach. The following statistical formula will be used in the quantitative analysis.   1.         Percentage – to determine the magnitude of the responses to the questionnaire.                         n % = ——– x 100        ;           n – number of responses                         N                                 N – total number of respondents   2.         Weighted Mean                         f1x1 + f2x2  + f3x3 + f4x4  + f5x5 x = ———————————————  ;                                     xt where:            f – weight given to each response                         x – number of responses                         xt – total number of responses    References Hofferth, S. L., Reid, L., Mott, & Frank L. (2001). The Effects of Early Childbearing on Schooling over Time. Family Planning Perspectives, 33(6).   Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

The effects of pregnancy on the academic performance of female students in higher institutions in Nigeria

The effects of pregnancy on the academic performance of female students in higher institutions in Nigeria Introduction ...

POOR PERFORMANCE OF GIRLS AT SCHOOL

POOR PERFORMANCE OF GIRLS AT SCHOOL             The 1980s saw a big budget cut on the education of Zambian primary pupils. By the time 1990 came, the education budget allotted for each student went as low as sixteen dollars from twenty-four dollars in the mid-1980s. Primary education was the most affected by the budget cut while education budget for the tertiary level was retained.  Ironically, while Zambia drastically lowered its educational budget for primary and secondary levels, enrolments for these levels rose rapidly. Unfortunately,  the administration was not able to foresee and to put in plans to serve the needs of   rising enrolments. As a consequence, there was a dramatic decline in the quality of education.             As an example, schools had sessions of up to four a day, and less than two million students were congested in only around twenty thousand classrooms.   There was also a rise in girls’ enrolment in 1992 to forty-eight percent  from forty-three percent during the latter part of the 1980s.             In Zambia, there are significant differences in the education patterns for both urban and rural areas. In the urban areas, GER (Gross Enrolment Ratios) is less than one hundred one percent while the GER in the rural areas is only sixty-nine percent. In the provinces of Zambia where poverty is at its worst, it  has the highest recorded dropout rates and suffers the lowest GER,              There is only a slight increase in regards to drop out rates for girls in primary schools as compared to boys.  But, the dropout rates for girls attending secondary levels are still considerable. Should they be fortunate enough to continue their secondary level of schooling, majority of them are directed towards subjects that are non-technical and traditionally female in nature such as social sciences, home economics, and others.             In the tertiary level, girls even experience a more restricted access to education as compared to their secondary level of schooling. This occurs despite the fact that entrance requirements at the tertiary level for girls are much lower than for boys. In the 1990s, Zambia female students in the tertiary level comprised only twenty-eight percent of the total student population in that educational level. Female students, are again, directed toward courses dealing with humanities, arts, and teaching.  In 1994, only eight percent of female students were able to enroll in science courses.  One reason why this is so is because from the time they attended school starting from the primary level, they were only exposed to gender-basis specializations. By the time they entered the tertiary level, they are not qualified anymore or females do not have the qualifications needed to study non-traditional female courses as the sciences.                Gaps between genders enrolment ratio become  increasingly wider starting from the secondary level up to tertiary level in favor of boys.  Moreover, educational growth has almost stopped due to the current financial difficulties experienced by Zambia.             Educational attainment of girls is low due to low enrolment and high wastage that includes both drop outs and grade repetitions. . Records show, based on leaving exams administered, that Zambian school girls perform poorly in almost all subject except local languages and English. Leaving exams are administered at the end of the primary level and the secondary level.              Leaving exam records show that boys’ mean scores are higher  than girls and that only one-third of girls graduates in a particular level as compared to one-half for boys. Boys perform better than girls in academics and girls show frequent failings in both primary and secondary levels except for literature.             The causes of poor performance of girls in school are multifaceted, involving different factors as social, political, and economic. According to the findings of Appleton, 1994, it only mirrors gender inequality in the Zambian society and culture as a whole. The school and the community are duplicating the mores of Zambia which underrates the potential and capabilities of females. One example is when children are needed at home to help in the family business, parents tend to let the boys attend school while the girls stay at home to help.  As a result, the attitudes manifested by society restrict the girls to bloom to its full potential and girls psychologically detach themselves from school.             Only less than four percent of girls are able to complete the primary level as compared to eleven percent for boys. Evidence shows that female illiteracy is high and that formal education in majority of its rural areas is almost non-existent.  Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

POOR PERFORMANCE OF GIRLS AT SCHOOL

POOR PERFORMANCE OF GIRLS AT SCHOOL The 1980s saw a big budget cut on the education of Zambian primary pupils. By the time ...