Evaluation On Gender Difference In Academic Performance In African Public Universities: A Case Study Of Arts And Science Undergraduates From Egerton, Kabianga, Chuka And Laikipia Universities

Education is considered a key to success of any country;it contributes to development of human capital that spur economic development as well as increasing opportunities of better living.However,there exist gender disparities in performance of students in primary and secondary level in Kenya.The purpose of the study was to contribute towards gender inclusivity in higher education in Kenyan public universities.The independent variables that was investigated in the study include demographic factors,previous academic background,in-class behavior,student’s attitude,self-concept,student’s motivation factors and extracurricular activities.The performance considered in the study was the Grade Point Average(GPA)from first year to their current year.The study was guided by Tinto’s model of student attrition and Goal theory.The study employed quantitative research design.The target population of this study include third year and final-year students drawn from undergraduate program of arts and science-based faculties.Purposive sampling method was used to select 100 students in each of the four universities(Egerton,Kabianga,Chuka and Laikipia)therefore eventual population drawn from four universities was 400 students.The data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire.The validity and reliability of research instrument was established and the Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient for the questionnaire was found to be 0.817.Descriptive(frequency distributions,means,and percentages)and inferential statistics(independent T-test,correlation,simple and regression analysis)were used to analyze the collected data with the help of SPSS program version 26.The hypotheses were tested at 0.05 Alpha(α)level.The study established that there is gender difference(P < 0.05)in in-class behaviours and student’s self-concept among undergraduate students,with females recording higher scores.The study further established that in-class behaviors(r = 0.155,P < 0.01),student’s attitude(r = 0.125,P < 0.05),student motivation factors(r = 0.333,P < 0.01)and student’s previous academic background(r = 0.108,P < 0.05)have a significant positive effect on academic performance among undergraduate students.Regression analysis further identified significant influence of in-class behaviours(β = 0.133,P < 0.01),motivational factors(β = 0.194,P < 0.001)and previous academic background(β= 0.046,P < 0.05)on academic performance.The study recommends the university institution to emphasize on student in-class behaviour,and self-concept because they are linked to gender differences in performance.The university should also underline all the five correlates of academic performance that positively influenced students’ performance in this study.