CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
The world has become a vastly complicated place. Scientific discovery, business development, technological advancement, the struggle to earn a living, increasing global independence, the rapid advancement of information age, and the increasing size of government are just some of the changes which have had significant impact on man’s environment.
To this end, man’s attitude towards his environment shapes his decisions and affects his social relationship and behaviour. It is with this background in mind that the researcher decided to investigate the influence of gender on attitude of senior secondary school students toward accounting and the effect on performance.
The researcher has in mind to make this research work to be of immense value to our senior secondary schools systems, especially as regards teachers, government and schools’ approaches to teaching of accounting and business subjects in general. The influence of gender as a determinant factor for students’ attitude and performance in accounting has been subjected to endless arguments. This can be seen in the work of Carlson (1968) which stated that “The learning of accounting provides for individual capacity to progress at his or her own pace”. The relationship of gender to various means has been observed in different cultures as well as choices of studies throughout the world.
It has been observed by many researchers that some of the measures which have come under investigation include cognitive style-Lynn (1972); Okeke and Wood-Robenson (1980), achievement-Siam and Ugwuogbu (1980), and ability to perform tasks, Hanson (1986). The general views of the scholars in this direction were that males showed superiority over females in their studies. Although Ogunyemi (1992) indicated in his study that the performance of females and not males improved from teachers supplied information about science related task situation.
In Nigeria, not much ground has been covered in the business subject areas, and accounting in particular. But this is absolutely necessary especially where manpower requirement is much needed in view of the business and technological development in the country. This study will remind Nigerian educators of their national obligation at this transitional period of our country into modern scientific and technological society. This requires a system of mass education of effective males and females accountants, starting at the junior and senior secondary school levels which form the preparatory stages. Encouragement and positive attitude should be properly established in both male and female students in order to develop their interests and capabilities in the area of accounting.
It would be unfortunate situation and a drawback to our country, Nigeria if one hand the government is stressing “Education for industrialization, development and service”, while on the other hand, it is experiencing moral decay, students’ negative attitudes and low performance in school subjects.
If there exists a difference in the performance of male and female students in accounting then practical approaches to level the imbalance in our educational system should be adopted. Education is the heart of any nation and the citizens expect to benefit from it. Without a sound education, man’s intellect and moral sense are stunted and he is a menace to himself and the society. Nigeria senior secondary school students should be made to realize the importance of accounting to the country’s immediate needs.
Nigeria should move away from emphasizing certificate proficiency because this emphasis gives rise to the scramble to score high grades in examination without much labour or interest in the subject matter. Stressing on acquisition of certificate dampens students’ attitudes toward school subjects. Performance and scores in examination become ends in themselves and real life goal (the development of innate capabilities and often ambition) are jeopardized. This distance between students’ interests and performance continually widens and the meaning of true education may be observed.
However, the casual comparative study will aim to discover the influence of gender on students’ attitude and performance in accounting and their relationship between attitude and performance. If a significant influence does not emerge, then the notion that males show a more positive attitude to accounting or vice versa will be dispelled.
Moreover, if a positive correlation does not exist between attitude and performance, these will de-emphasis the need to develop positive attitude towards all subjects. Performance of students may then be related to other factors like teachers, equipment, environmental influence and motivation.
Finally, the researcher hopes that this study will contribute to the improvement of both male and female education in the area of accounting.