Individual Factors Influencing First Year Students’ Attitude Towards Studying of Physical Education at The University of Nairobi

Abstract

Based on the UNESCO (2006), Physical Education (PE) is supposed be part of the curriculums of all institutions of learning worldwide. Unfortunately, a study by Gerald (2016) uncovered that in many institutions of learning, PE is a marginalized subject. This paper investigates the individual factors including job opportunities, prestige, gender, personal interests that impact the attitudes of first year students’ towards choice of PE as a career subject at the University of Nairobi using cross-sectional survey design method with 273 students sampled. Data analysis was carried out using descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviation. Some 57.6% of students demonstrated that finding a job in PE is easy, 83.3% indicated that Physical Education was far from a good-paying career while 22.9% revealed that the fear of personal injuries was one of the major reasons they avoided participating in Physical Education classes. Moreover 18.1% indicated that Physical Education classes are difficult because they involve the use lots of physical activities that need a lot of energy and 31.0% showed that due to lack of practical skills in the field, they avoided pursuing Physical Education as one of their career subject. It was recommended that the ministry of education to organize programs to improve the awareness on the benefits of Physical Education and universities to establish programs that will help enlighten the students in matters associated with careers and job market trends.