Relationship between Gender and Academic Procrastination amongst Postgraduate Students in Anambra State

Abstract

Objective: In Anambra State where there are two public universities that have postgraduate schools, postgraduate students have been observed procrastinating by the nature of their activities. This led to examining the relationship between gender and academic procrastination amongst postgraduate students in Anambra State in this study. Methods: A research question and a hypothesis guided the study. The study adopted a correlational research design and was carried out at Nnamdi Azikiwe University and Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu, Igboariam, both in Anambra State. The study population consists of 1,862 students, comprising all Masters and Doctorate students of the 2017/2018 academic session. The number of 2017/2018 postgraduate students in Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka are 1,088 while those in Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu Igbariam is 774. Purposive sampling technique was used to select the sample, which comprises 329 postgraduate students. The instrument for data collection was Academic Procrastination Scale (APS). The instrument was an adopted instrument. McCloskey originally developed the 25-item APS in 2011. The research question was answered using mean and standard deviation, while the hypothesis was tested, using z-test. Results: Findings indicated that there is no meaningful relationship between male and female academic procrastination of postgraduate students. Conclusion: It was concluded that male and female postgraduate students procrastinate in their academic endeavours.