Age and Gender Differences in Study Habits: A Framework for Proactive Counselling Against Low Academic Achievement

Abstract

Poor academic achievement of Nigerian candidates in the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) Senior School
Certificate Examination (SSCE) over the past seven years has been a cause for concern to all stakeholders in education in Nigeria. This
study, therefore, sought to project a proactive counselling approach for tackling this academic menace. Two hundred and eighty nine
(289) students including prospective May/June 2012 WAEC SSCE candidates attending a Study Skills Improvement Therapy Workshop
organized by Firm Family Foundation, an NGO in Nigeria, were used for the study. Their responses to a Study Habits Inventory were
analysed on the basis of age and gender using t-test statistics. Results showed significant differences in the study habits of the students
on the basis of age and gender. Study habits seem to improve with age and female students reported better study habits than males.
This implies that proactive counselling against poor study habits should start at the basic level of education and deligent attention should
be given to male students. How target-oriented counselling techniques should be utilized to help students improve their academic
achievement was discussed.