GENDER DIFFERENCE IN ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF STUDENTS IN KINANGOP SUB COUNTY, NYANDARUA COUNTY, KENYA

Despite vigorous efforts from the government and non-government sectors to ensure gender equality in education, there is still a serious gap between boys and girls in academic performance and achievement. There are very limited studies focused on the issues of gender difference in academic performance of students in Nyandarua County. This study sought to examine gender differences in the academic performance of students in Kinangop Sub County, Nyandarua County. The study adopted Social Cognitive Theory. The study adopted Ex post facto research design. Thirty-seven schools from Kinangop Sub county in Nyandarua County were selected using multi – stage stratified random sampling method to reflect the various categories of schools in the County. The Sub County has extra county, county and sub county schools. The schools were stratified based on their average Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) performance in years; 2015, 2016 and 2017. Two thousand four hundred and seventy students participated in the study. Secondary data were obtained from the Sub County Education offices. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics of mean and Independent samples t-test. From the findings there was significant difference in academic achievement among the gender of students, with the male students (Mean = 67.89, SD=4.92) having better academic achievement scores than their female counterparts (Mean = 64.11, SD=3.3). The male students were found outperforming their male counterparts. There was statistically significant difference [t (45) = 3.161, p=.003] in academic achievement between gender. The study concluded that there was a significant gender differences in the academic performance of students in Kinangop Sub County. the study recommends that learners should be thoroughly motivated to engender higher level of achievement in Secondary School and indeed in all subjects at that level of education irrespective of gender. The school management should abolish the creation of gender stereotype in classes so as to enable both male and female students thrive in their academics. The findings of this study will be beneficial in addressing the issue of male–female achievement differences at secondary school level in Kenya. Article visualizations