A study of the impact of birth order on academic performance as perceived by Guidance and Counselling students of Taraba State University, Jalingo, Nigeria

Abstract

The study examined the impact of birth order on academic performance as perceived by Guidance and Counselling students, Taraba State University Jalingo, Nigeria. The descriptive survey design was used for the study. From a population of 382 Guidance and Counselling students (2020/2021 academic session) in Taraba State University Jalingo, a sample of 101 students comprising of 47 male and 54 female was selected using purposive sampling technique. A reliability of 0.89 was obtained using Cronbach’s Alpha. Mean and standard deviation were used for data analysis. Two research questions were framed and two hypotheses were formulated and tested. Questionnaire was used for data collection: Impact of Birth Order on Students’ Academic Performance Questionnaire [IBOSAPQ]. The study found that birth order has impact on academic performance of student. The study concludes that first, middle and last birth orders have impact on students’ academic performance while gender is a predictor of birth order on academic performance as perceived by Guidance and Counselling students. The study recommends that counsellors and teachers should pay attention to students’ birth order in order to provide for adequate counselling of parents and students as this will equip them with issues relating to birth order and measures to be taken to improve on students’ academic performance generally.