Gender Disparity in Extracurricular Participation: Assessing Impact of Cultural Norms/Practices on Girls’ Participation in Extracurricular Activities of Secondary Schools in Korogwe District, Tanzania

Abstract

Education studies admitted that extracurricular activities have played a key role in academic performance and overall education development. Extracurricular involvement among students has been shown to enhance academic performance and increase motivation for further study (Kravchenko and Nygård, 2022). Students who participate in after-school programs at their respective schools are able to apply the skills they learn to other disciplines and to their everyday life (Hayes, 2014). However, gender and education studies asserted that there is gender disparity in participation in extracurricular school activities girls indicated to have poor status compared to boys (Lundh, 2022; (Jägerbrink et al, 2022). This study therefore assessed influence of cultural norms/practices on girls’ participation in extracurricular school activities. Specifically the study was guided by the following objectives: to identify types of cultural norms/practices that hinder girls’ participation in extracurricular activities, assess influence of pointed out cultural norms/practices on girls’ participation in extracurricular school activities and examine effect of limited girls’ participation in extracurricular activities. This study used concurrent mixed methods research design to allow collection of qualitative and quantitative data at the same time. The study used simple random and purposive sampling techniques to obtain a sample size of 120 respondents for quantitative and qualitative data. Data analysis involved thematic analysis for qualitative data and descriptive statistics for quantitative findings. Findings from this study noted that there is gender disparity in extracurricular activities participation whereas girls maintain poor status of participation. The observed gender gap was highly contributed by some of cultural norms/practices, gendered division of domestic roles being the leading factor. Result from this study further indicated that limited participation in extracurricular school deprives girl students an opportunity to grow academically and develop their career.