Gender and Subject Domain Differences in Academic Performance among Pre-service Teachers of Isa Kaita College of Education Nigeria

Abstract

This research intends to investigate gender differences in academic performance among NCE students in the School of Sciences, Isa Kaita College of Education in Dutsin-Ma. The population of the study comprises of 654 (male 433 and female 221). The study used a quantitative correlational study to establish relationships between gender and subject domain. Two indicators; questionnaire and the students' CGPA results obtain during NCE 1 and NCE 11.  This study examined the gender and subject domain differences and the academic performances of pre-service teachers across all the school departments. The study is quantitative. All the departments in the School of Science were involved through a clustered random sampling. An independent sample t-test and Pearson Moment correlation (PPMC) were employed for the data analysis in the study. Results have shown that the mean CGPA for males was slightly higher than that of females, although the difference is not statistically significant. Similarly, there was no statistically significant difference in the subject domain scores between genders. Correlation analysis showed no significant associations between gender and subject domain scores. On the other hand, CGPA showed a very strong positive association with each other, meaning as the CGPA increases, the better one's overall academic achievement. The findings indicate that gender does not determine academic performance among pre-service teachers; rather, GPA is instrumental in predicting success in educational outcomes.