Influence Of Gender On Academic Achievement And Retention Of TVET Students In Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigated the influence of gender on academic achievement and retention of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) students in Nigeria. The design of the study was pre-test, post-test and retention test quasi experimental design. The study was conducted at public TVET institutions in Nigeria.  Two research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. The population for the study was 122 TVET students randomly selected from six TVET institutions from each of the six geo-political zones that make up Nigeria. The instrument used for data collection was technical and vocational education achievement test (TVEAT). The instrument had three versions: pre-test, post-test and retention test which were the same except for the reshuffling and swapping of the questions and options of the 60 objective questions used for the study. The instrument was subjected to face and content validation. The reliability coefficient using Kuder Richardson (K-R 20) was 0.78. The reliability test was conducted using 20 students at Federal college of education (technical) Asaba in Delta State, Nigeria. Data collected for the study were analyzed using mean with standard deviation to answer the research questions. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The major finding was that the male students of TVET institutions in Nigeria have a better academic achievement and retention when compared to their female counterparts. Based on the finding, it was recommended that the education of girls in technical and vocational education should be encouraged in Nigeria.