Assessment of the role of demographic variables in students' performance in economics

Abstract

Economics as a subject is regarded as the bedrock of all management and social science-based disciplines. The persistently low level of students’ achievement in economics in senior secondary school examinations has become a thing of great concern to all stakeholders. This study examined students’ performance in the Senior Secondary School economics qualifying examination in Kano State and the influence of sex and schools' nature on their performances in economics. An ex-post facto design of descriptive research was adopted for the study. A proforma was used to collect data from a sample of 300 students, selected using a stratified random sampling procedure from the secondary schools in Kano State, Nigeria. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics and an independent-sample t-test to test the hypotheses. Overall results showed that students performed above average and a significant gender difference exists in economics performance. Similarly, there is no significant difference in students’ performance with respect to the schools' nature (boarding and day schools). Keywords: Economics, examination, students’ performance, school nature