Causes of performance disparities between Boys and Girls in business studies KCSE in the National Examination in Kirinyaga District, Kenya

Abstract

The performance of Business Studies in secondary school is very vital in national development. This is because it forms the foundation for further studies in Business related courses which playa big role in national development. In secondary schools both boys and girls are exposed to Business Studies from Form one and those who are interested in it selects it as an examinable subject when they are in Form three. Though boys and girls are exposed to similar experiences in schools, the performance of girls is lower compared to that of boys.

It is against this background that this study sought to establish the factors that cause performance disparities between boys and girls in K.C.S.E Business studies. The problem of the study was that there exist differential performance in K.C.S.E Business studies between boys and girls. The prime objective of the study was to establish the effect of the .variables identified for study on students' performance and also identify what creates differential performance in K.C.S.E Business Studies between boys and girls, as well as make recommendations of improving students' performance at national examination in Kirinyaga district.

The research design for the study was survey, which involved collection of data using questionnaires; random sampling was employed to generate a sizeable sample to be used in the study. The subjects included students, teachers, head teachers and Quality Assurance and Standards officers. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the data. The findings were presented using frequency tables and percentages. The results indicated that schools need to improve teaching and learning facilities while teachers need to improve on their instructional approach for them to be students' centered in order to improve the performance in Business Studies.

Strong guidance and counseling departments should be put in place in schools so as to encourage girls to have positive attitude towards Business Studies. Teachers should expose students to more revision by use of past K.C.S.E materials. Group discussion should be given emphasis and girls encouraged to practice answering questions by use of text books and past examination papers. Recommendations and suggestions for further research were made on the basis of these findings.