Assessment of Self-Efficacy on Students’ Academic Performance In Secondary Schools: A Comparative Study Of Male And Female Students In Murang’a And Kirinyaga Counties, Kenya

Abstract

Self-efficacy is one of the major factors believed to considerably influence academic performance of learners in secondary schools. Some institutions and individual students are known to be consistently performing better than others even when there was no difference in their entry behaviour. This trend is witnessed between Kirinyaga and Murang’a counties with Kirinyaga county students out-performing those from Murang’a county with a significant margin in KCSE between 2012 to 2017. A comparative study is therefore desirable to find out whether self-efficacy influences academic performance in the secondary schools. The study was based on the self-efficacy theory as its theoretical framework. It adopted correlational research design with a target population of 5879. The population consisted of all the form three students in the extra-county and national schools in Murang'a and Kirinyaga counties. Yamane’s formula was used to get a sample size of 412. Data was collected using a questionnaire and analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Results indicate that a strong relationship exists between self-efficacy and academic performance. The overall perceived self-efficacy was high with a mean of 71.36%. The self-efficacy was significantly higher in Kirinyaga than in Murang'a county students. Though efficacy was higher in male compared to the females, though the difference was not statistically significant. The study recommended that besides focusing on syllabus coverage, teachers should be enhanced with pedagogical skills that boost self-efficacy in learners.