Gender, career expectation, self-concept and mathematics achievement among secondary school students in Makindye Urban Council - Kampala City Council Authority.

Abstract

The study sought to establish how gender, mathematics expectation and self-concept relate to mathematics achievement among ‘O’ level students in selected secondary schools in Makindye Urban Council, KCCA. Guided by three objectives namely to establish how gender, mathematics expectations and self-concept relate with mathematics achievement, the study was mainly quantitative although it involved some qualitative approaches. A correlational, cross sectional survey design was used to collect data from a sample of 280 students by means of Self-Administered Questionnaires. The study also employed an interview guide to gather qualitative data from 10 teachers. Respondents were selected using simple random and purposive sampling techniques. Data collected was analyzed using a Students Sample Two t test and Pearson’s Correlation Co-efficient index. The findings of the study revealed a significant gender difference in mathematics achievement in favor of males. Significant positive correlations were found between mathematics achievement and two of the independent variables namely: mathematics expectations and mathematics self-concept. On the basis of the findings, it was concluded that males perform better than females in mathematics and that mathematics expectations and self-concept have a highly positive significant relationship with ‘O’ level students’ mathematics achievement. This research recommends that if achievement of students is to be improved, Ministry of Education and Sports officials, teachers, and parents ought to do the following:(i) encourage and put up a conducive environment for girls to learn mathematics equally with boys (ii) encourage students, especially girls to develop deep love for mathematics related careers, like engineering, physical sciences among others.(iii) recognize the features of students’ mathematics self-concepts and foster their esteem, interest, confidence and persistence when confronting obstacles