GENDER INFLUENCE ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF ART/ DESIGN

STUDENTS IN TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS IN OWERRI, IMO STATE: THE

CASE OF IMO STATE UNIVERSITY, OWERRI AND THE FEDERAL
POLYTECHNIC NEKEDE, OWERRI, IMO STATE .

BY
GRACE CHIZOMA ONYEBUCHI-IGBOKWE PhD
Department of Fine and Applied Arts
Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education Owerri.
onygra28@gmail.com

OBI-ANYANWU, JOVITA NMA

Department of Home Economics and Hospitality Management, AIFCE.
nneomajo21@gmail.com

AGBO EMEKA F.
Department of Fine and Applied Arts. AIFCE
emekafred52@gmail.com

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 Abstract
The aim of this study was to examine the extent to which gender impacts on academic
performance of undergraduate Art/Design students in Tertiary institutions in Owerri, Imo
State: the case of Imo State University, Owerri, and the Federal Polytechnic, Nekede,
Owerri, Imo State. The retrospective survey design was adopted for the study. Selection of
subjects to be used for the study was done based on 275 Art students from Imo State
University, Owerri and the Federal Polytechnic, Nekede, Owerri admitted in 2017/2018 and
2018/2019 academic sessions. Instrument used for data collection was pro-forma which
went through a face and content validation by test experts. Questionnaire and FGD were
used to collect students’ records from the respective institutions. The data collected were
arranged, coded and analyzed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The
hypothesis was tested at 0.05 level of significance. Findings of the study showed that
demographic characteristic, in terms of gender, when considered individually does not
significantly influence academic performance of Art/Design students in Tertiary
institutions.

Keywords: Gender, Academic performance, Art Education, Tertiary Institutions

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 INTRODUCTION

Scholastic execution and accomplishment grades are viewed as the denominators of the nature of

instruction. In any case, execution grades alone don't offer sufficient clarification to the

wellsprings of understudy's positive or adverse results, nor make one guess the way forward to

improve achievement. It becomes basic to survey and assess gender orientation as one of the

elements that can influence scholastic execution. The comprehension of this component is

advantageous as it can recommend a few norms against which nature of instruction is judged and

improved whenever viewed as in any case. In instructive foundation, achievement is evaluated

by scholarly execution, or the capacity of a student to compare set norms of the school and the

establishment. Research scholars such as Ugorji (2008), and Egbule (2004) have shown that

studens’ exhibition recently is quickly declining, and this could be because of their showdown

with many requests of both intellectual and non-scholastic related commitments. (Olanipekun,

Shola, & James, 2013). This challenge is viewed as a significant one requiring pressing and

critical arrangement. Since scholarly performances or exhibitions are entirely determined by the

nature of HR inside, different teachers have attempted to give answers for the bewildering

situation.

Statement of the Problem

As of late, the issue of unfortunate scholarly performances or exhibitions of undergraduates in

universities and different organizations of higher learning has been of extraordinary worry to

teachers and every one of the people who are keen on the training business. One among the

issues in question is: Do the male and female have equivalent possibilities for obtaining the

information and abilities for different occupations? There is the supposition that every one of

those conceded into Tertiary foundations no matter what their gender is can adapt to the

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scholarly requests and obligations, however in the opposite, some leave school rashly without

finishing the program; a few shift their directions and others spend extra year(s) prior to finishing

their school years, other people who determine to get to the end the program end up with pass

and second rate degrees. For what reason is it so? This situation implies that presentation might

be a cooperating factor. The issue above roused the researcher in seeing whether really a portion

of the segment factors, for example, gender influence scholarly execution of Art/Design students

in Tertiary institutions in Owerri, Imo State.

Review of Relevant Literature: Gender and Academic Performance.

Gender as indicated by Anderson (2004) alludes to the social credits and open doors related with

being male or female and the connection among ladies and men and young ladies and young men

as well as the relations among ladies and those between men. These traits, amazing open doors

and connections are socially built and are learned through socialization processes. They are

setting/time explicit and inconsistent. Orientation figures out what is generally anticipated,

permitted and esteemed in a lady or a man in a given setting. In many social orders, there are

contrasts and imbalances among ladies and men on obligations allocated, exercises embraced,

admittance to and command over assets, as well as dynamic open doors.

Gender infers the various jobs, expectations of people and the connection between them. Gender

Orientation does not just allude to ladies or men, however the way their characteristics, ways of

behaving, and not entirely settled through the course of socialization. Gender is for the most part

connected with inconsistent power and admittance to decisions and assets (Alimi, Ehinola &

Alabi, 2012). The various places of ladies and men are impacted by verifiable, social, strict,

monetary, social real factors. These relations and obligations can and do change over the long

haul. The utilization of the term gender likewise perceives the convergence of ladies' insight of

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separation and infringement of common liberty based on their sexes as well as from other power

connection that outcome from race, nationality, rank, class, age, capacity, handicap, religion and

a variety of different variables. Ladies and men are characterized in various ways in various

social orders, the connection they share comprise what is known as orientation connection. Be

that as it may, there is no known society where people have equivalent power relations. Gender

relations comprise and are developed by a scope of establishments like family, overall set of

laws, or the market. Gender relations are various leveled relations of force among ladies and men

and consistently will generally be hindered (Greiff & Neubert,2014).

Overall, young ladies improve in school than young men. Young ladies get higher grades and

complete secondary school at a higher rate contrasted with young men (Finn 2008), Normalized

accomplishment test likewise show that females are better at spelling and perform better on trial

of proficiency, composing, and general information (National Centre for Education, 2003). A

global fitness test managed to 4th grades in 35 nations, for instance, showed that females

outscored males on perusing, education in each country. Despite the fact that there was no

contrast among young men and young ladies on imagination test on 4th grade (Global

Relationship for assessment Accomplishment). Young ladies keep on displaying higher verbal

capacity all through secondary school, however they start to lose ground to young men after 4th

grade on trial of both science and innovativeness capacity. The distinctions in sexual orientation

in science and math accomplishment have suggestion for young lady's future professions and

have been a wellspring of worry for teachers all over.

Gender differences in schooling and in particular, in scholastic accomplishment is never another

event, yet it has existed for quite a while. Proof of researches in the space are various showing

that young ladies are not performing sufficiently as their male partners in colleges (Becker 2005;

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Finn 2008, & Erickson,2009). Aiken (2007) noticed that males are profoundly positioned

contrasted with female in scholarly accomplishments. The presence of gender gaps in schools in

a few non-industrial nations was likewise affirmed by Glenn (2009) who bore witness to that

there exists a wide hole between the sexes at school performances. They saw from an

examination of irrelevant variety which demonstrates that there is just moderate variety in the

orientation hole across schools proposing that practically all young ladies been able to arrive at

high accomplishment levels. Then again, Fryer and Levitt (2009) revealed that the orientation

hole in understudies' outcome is exceptionally steady across segment gatherings and

subsequently their essential decision is that there is a variety in the orientation hole across

schools. Kelly (2007) expressed that young men are in front of young ladies in the sciences with

the biggest contrast being in math and useful test.

All the more thus, gender predisposition happens at whatever point somebody's mentality, choice

and activity towards an individual depend on that person’s gender. Gordon (1995) found that

educators of the two genders acknowledge that the possibilities of young men and young ladies

contrast as indicated by their orientation explicit qualities, insight and demeanors. Young men

are depicted by instructors as being more serious-disapproved with scholarly work, speedy

mental limit and capacity to deal with troublesome and requesting school liabilities. In any case,

Finn (2008) in a review saw that instructive exhibitions of young ladies and young men in certain

climes followed a consistent example showing equality of accomplishment of progress at all

levels. In the school setting young men appear to rule connections and conversation or round

table discussions, though young ladies measure up to the assumption for their orientation when

they are peaceful or show blending characters. Other than Vock., Preckel, and Holling, (2011)

noticed that understudies' accomplishment depends significantly on their mental abilities. Aitken

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(2004) concentrated on 404 grown-ups (203 men and 201 ladies) who finished four sizes of a

managed knowledge estimation directed in gatherings. The discoveries from this study proposed

that accomplishment had little to direct certain reciprocal relationship with an insight factor.

Moreover, Deary et al (2007) observed that young ladies' performances in all scholarly courses

was superior to young men's with the exception of specialized drawings. This outcome showed

that distinction in sexual orientation and its impact was genuine. As per Kuhn and Holling

(2009), a concentrate on trial of more significant level natural fulfillment abilities among male

and female understudies emerged with the outcome that female understudies don't proceed as

well as guys. In the meantime, Ezewu (2003) in a review led to find any distinction in scholastic

execution between the male and female, in their discoveries showed that guys out-performed

females in craftsmanship and design subjects. This outcome upholds the previous conversation

that the distinction in execution could be because of selection of subjects. Nonetheless, reports

from social pattern saw that young men are especially under-addressed in specific expressions

like language and history.

Moreover, James (2005) endeavored to see if distinction in sexual orientation existed in the

portrayal of male and female in useful test classes. He utilized three hundred and sixty four (364)

students and figured out that the females were reliably accomplishing higher than males in all the

science class levels however contrast was not critical. Likewise, they tracked down that a

populace of mentally gifted youngsters (young men) habitually held higher status as they get

older. Until now Ezewu (2003) did an examination to see if distinctions in sexual orientation

exist between the genders in their scholarly accomplishment. He utilized 600 (600) subjects, 300

(300) to every gender chosen from ten blended auxiliary schools. He utilized finish of year

assessment scores from the school's records. The subjects were matured between 14-16years and

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were indiscriminately from the third year of the ten schools. The outcomes demonstrated that

young men would in general be better than young ladies in imaginative plans while young ladies

were predominant in English Language.

Devi and Mayur (2003) completed a review to look at factors impacting the scholastic

achievements of youngsters occupant in schools. A review test of 120 youngsters concentrating

on senior classes of city schools was chosen. They detailed that young ladies were positioned

higher than their partners in scholastic accomplishment. This was assessed in light of their

assessment scores in the secondary schools.

Methodology

In this review, the specialist utilized review overview plan to research what contrasts exists

between students' segment and non-segment qualities and scholastic execution. The plan was

thought of as fitting for use as it considers a measurable strategy for laying out the distinctions

between factors under study. Accordingly, information on Art/Design students' segment and non-

segment profile in the two tertiary organizations were acquired with Final Cumulative Grade

Point Average (FCGPA) to decide inborn contrasts.

The subject of this study comprises of 275 Art/Design students. One hundred and forty eight

(148) from Imo State University, Owerri, and One hundred and twenty seven (127) from the

Federal Polytechnic, Nekede, Owerri, that gained admission in 2016/2017 and 2017/2018

scholastic sessions, and who hence finished in 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 scholarly meetings

separately. Every one of the students whose results had gone through the University Senate and

the Academic Board separately for endorsement were remembered for the review.

Accommodation choice procedure was utilized to choose those students that acquired

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confirmation in the two higher establishments of learning in 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 scholarly

meetings. Same method was utilized to choose the students that graduated in 2020/2021 and

2021/2022 scholastic meetings. The students' segment and non-segment profile was arranged

including their Final Cumulative Grade Point Average. Both UTME and Direct Passage students

were remembered for this review. In this review, favorable to forma was planned by the

specialist with classifications of segment and non-segment profile recorded, including the section

for year of graduation and FCGPA which was utilized as an intermediary for scholarly

execution. Information from the supportive of forma were arranged, coded and examined

utilizing Autonomous T-test factual examination.

Results

A sum of two hundred and seventy-five (275) students from the two tertiary establishments, who

were enlisted between 2016/2017, and 2017/2018 scholarly meetings and graduated in

2020/2021 and 2021/2022 scholastic meetings had their last CGPA toward the fruition of their

examinations. Their age range was 20-6years with mean and standard deviation of 32.7±7.9.

Table 1: Demographic distribution of the respondents

Demographic characteristics No of Respondents Percentage
Gender
Male 225 81.8%
Female 50 18.2%
Age (yrs)
20-29 120 46.6%
30-39 102 37.1%
40-49 33 12.0%
50 & above 20 7.3%
Mode of Entry
UTME 160 58.2%
DE 115 41.8%
Religion
Christianity 275 100
Marital status

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 Married 185 67.3%
Single 90 32.7%
Source: Field work, 2023.
From Table 1 above on the segment dissemination of the respondents, their gender showed that

greater part of students 225 (81.8%) were male, while just 50 (18.2%) of them were female.

Their age bunch showed that 120 (46.6%) of them were 20-29 years, 102(37.1) % of them were

30-39yrs, 33 (12.0%) of them were 40-49yrs, while 20 (7.3%) of them were 50yrs and above.

Their method of entry showed that 115 (41.8%) of them were DE (Direct Entry), while 160

(58.2%) of them were through UTME. Every one of them (100 percent) were Christians, while

90 (32.7%) of them were single and 185 (67.3%) of them were married.

Hypothesis: There is no significant difference in the academic performance of male and female

students. The hypothesis was tested using independent T-test. The result is presented in Table 2

Table 2: Showing Gender and Academic performance of Art Students.

Gender N Mean Std. Dev t-test df P-value
Male 225 2.95 0.57
-0.276 273 0.783
Female 50 2.93 0.60

The outcome on Table 2 shows gender and scholastic execution of Art/Design students. The

outcome uncovered that there is no critical divergence in the scholarly execution of male and

female students (P>0.05). The speculation was thus acknowledged. This suggests that despite the

fact that the male had mean exhibition of 2.95±0.57 and the female had 2.93±0.60, their

presentation was not fundamentally unique.

Discussion of the Findings

The discoveries from the review showed that gender does not fundamentally impact scholastic

execution of Art/Design students. This review loans assurance to National Centre for Education

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(2003) in the consequence of their review which uncovered that an inward fitness test regulated

to 4th grade in 35 nations, female scored more than male in perusing proficiency in each country.

Despite the fact that there was no massive distinction among young men and young ladies in

sciences while higher verbal capacity was seen in young ladies all through secondary school,

they lose grounds to young men after 4th grade on test in both arithmetic and down to earth test

capacity.

Despite the fact that Lynn (2004) in his review, figured out that males have bigger mind size than

female and in this manner would be supposed to have higher scholarly capacity; Mackintosh

(1998) also guaranteed that there is no sex distinction in everyday acumen. Flynn (1998)

likewise inspected two tests managed by Israeli Protection Powers which qualify intelligence

level test concocted an outcome that there is no sex contrast. This further backs the consequence

of the discoveries in this review.

The consequence of this discoveries was additionally upheld by Youthful and Anderson (2004)

as they inspected SAT-M score and found male to score better compared to female yet further

noticed that the distinctions in scores was not because of orientation but rather because of

financial status of the two genders. Additionally, Hyde and Mertz (2009) in their examinations

announced that there is no huge orientation dissimilarity among understudies of Asian American

in Minnesota. This view additionally added help to the discoveries of this review. In the

meantime, Ezewu (2003) on the side of this study found that the distinction in scholastic

execution of male and female students could be because of selection of subjects not sex.

Alimi, Ehinola & Alabi (2012) further upheld this study as they saw that there were no major or

perceptible contrasts concerning guardian youngster relationship and scholastic performances.

Young men and young ladies associated with the review showed clearly uniform relationship.

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Greiff and Neubert (2014) likewise upheld the discoveries that massive distinction was found in

young men and young ladies as it connects with scholarly self-assurance.

Conclusion

The review surveyed segment and non-segment qualities and scholastic performance of

Craftsmanship and Design undergraduates in Imo State University, Owerri, and the Federal

Polytechnic, Nekede, Owerri. The impact of the segment and non-segment qualities was

researched.

The accompanying ends were drawn in light of the discoveries of the review.

1. There was no tremendous distinction between segment / demographic attributes of gender and

scholastic execution of Craftsmanship and Design undergraduates.

2. Availability of a lot of variables, for example, helpful learning climate, quality and successful

instructors and so on will improve advancing as opposed to checking out at the concept of

gender. Accordingly, government and school directors ought to think about this.

3. Every student ought to be thought of and offered equivalent chance in a learning climate. This

is on the grounds that a person not set in stone to carry out well in an assessment can

continuously do as such, regardless of gender status etc.

Recommendations

1. No course of study is gender touchy however just the students' attitude ventures such. The two

genders ought to be offering equivalent learning chances without bias to the female society.

2. Women ought to be urged to prepare in any work or course of study since the human IQ (level

of intelligence) is upgraded by consistent practice and not sex-barred.

3. Since ladies are normally the most incredible in anything that they resolve to do, Art/Design as

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a part of study ought to be elevated to dazzle their inclinations so they could prepare in it and

offer it their best chances.

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