Journal of Quality and Technology Management
Volume VII, Issue II, December, 2011, Page 01 ‐ 14

FACTORS AFFECTING STUDENTS’ QUALITY OF
ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE: A CASE OF SECONDARY
SCHOOL LEVEL
M.S. Farooq1, A.H. Chaudhry1, M. Shafiq1, G. Berhanu2
1University of the Punjab, Pakistan
2University of Gothenburg, Sweden

ABSTRACT
This study was conducted to examine different factors influencing the academic performance of secondary school students in a metropolitan city of Pakistan. The respondents for this study were 10th grade students (300 male & 300 female). A survey was conducted by using a questionnaire for information gathering about different factors relating to academic performance of students. The academic performance was gauged by the result of their 9th grade annual examination.
Standard t-test and ANOVA were applied to investigate the effect of different factors on students’ achievement. The results of the study revealed that socioeconomic status (SES) and parents’ education have a significant effect on students’ overall academic achievement as well as achievement in the subjects of
Mathematics and English. The high and average socio-economic level affects the performance more than the lower level. It is very interesting that parents’ education means more than their occupation in relation to their children’s academic performance at school. It was found that girls perform better than the male students.
Keywords: Quality performance, achievement, socioeconomic demographic factors, gender and academic achievement.

status,

INTRODUCTION
In this era of globalization and technological revolution, education is considered as a first step for every human activity. It plays a vital role in the development of human capital and is linked with an individual’s well-being and opportunities for better living (Battle & Lewis, 2002). It ensures the acquisition of knowledge and skills that enable individuals to increase their productivity and improve their quality of life. This increase in productivity also leads towards new sources of earning which enhances the economic growth of a country (Saxton, 2000). The quality of

Factors Affecting Students’ Quality of Academic Performance: A Case of Secondary School Level

students’ performance remains at top priority for educators. It is meant for making a difference locally, regionally, nationally and globally.
Educators, trainers, and researchers have long been interested in exploring variables contributing effectively for quality of performance of learners. These variables are inside and outside school that affect students’ quality of academic achievement. These factors may be termed as student factors, family factors, school factors and peer factors (Crosnoe,
Johnson & Elder, 2004). The formal investigation about the role of these demographic factors rooted back in 17th century (Mann, 1985). Generally these factors include age, gender, geographical belongingness, ethnicity, marital status, socioeconomic status (SES), parents’ education level, parental profession, language, income and religious affiliations. These are usually discussed under the umbrella of demography (Ballatine, 1993). In a broader context demography is referred to as a way to explore the nature and effects of demographic variables in the biological and social context. Unfortunately, defining and measuring the quality of education is not a simple issue and the complexity of this process increases due to the changing values of quality attributes associated with the different stakeholders’ view point (Blevins, 2009; Parri, 2006).
Besides other factors, socioeconomic status is one of the most researched and debated factor among educational professionals that contribute towards the academic performance of students. The most prevalent argument is that the socioeconomic status of learners affects the quality of their academic performance. Most of the experts argue that the low socioeconomic status has negative effect on the academic performance of students because the basic needs of students remain unfulfilled and hence they do not perform better academically (Adams, 1996). The low socioeconomic status causes environmental deficiencies which results in low self esteem of students (US Department of Education, 2003). More specifically, this study aims to identify and analyze factors that affect the quality of students’ academic performance.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Educational services are often not tangible and are difficult to measure because they result in the form of transformation of knowledge, life skills and behaviour modifications of learners (Tsinidou, Gerogiannis, &
Fitsilis, 2010). So there is no commonly agreed upon definition of quality that is applied to education field. The definition of quality of education
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Journal of Quality and Technology Management

varies from culture to culture (Michael, 1998). The environment and the personal characteristics of learners play an important role in their academic success. The school personnel, members of the families and communities provide help and support to students for the quality of their academic performance. This social assistance has a crucial role for the accomplishment of performance goals of students at school (Goddard,
2003). Besides the social structure, parents’ involvement in their child’s education increases the rate of academic success of their child
(Furstenberg & Hughes, 1995).
The relationship between gender and the academic achievement of students has been discussed for decades (Eitle, 2005). A gap between the achievement of boys and girls has been found, with girls showing better performance than boys in certain instances (Chambers & Schreiber, 2004).
Gender, ethnicity, and father’s occupation are significant contributors to student achievement (McCoy, 2005; Peng & Hall, 1995).
Above and beyond the other demographic factors, the effects of SES are still prevalent at the individual level (Capraro, M., Capraro, R., &
Wiggins, 2000). The SES can be deliberated in a number of different ways; it is most often calculated by looking at parental education, occupation, income, and facilities used by individuals separately or collectively.
Parental education and family SES level have positive correlations with the student’s quality of achievement (Caldas & Bankston, 1997; Jeynes,
2002; Parelius, D., & Parelius, A., 1987; Mitchell & Collom, 2001; Ma &
Klinger, 2000). The students with high level of SES perform better than the middle class students and the middle class students perform better than the students with low level of SES (Garzon, 2006; Kahlenberg, 2006;
Kirkup, 2008).
The achievement of students is negatively correlated with the low SES level of parents because it hinders the individual in gaining access to sources and resources of learning (Duke, 2000; Eamon, 2005; Lopez, 1995).
Low SES level strongly affects the achievement of students, dragging them down to a lower level (Sander, 2001). This effect is most visible at the post-secondary level (Trusty, 2000). It is also observed that the economically disadvantaged parents are less able to afford the cost of education of their children at higher levels and consequently they do not work at their fullest potential (Rouse & Barrow, 2006).

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Factors Affecting Students’ Quality of Academic Performance: A Case of Secondary School Level

Krashen (2005) concluded that students whose parents are educated score higher on standardized tests than those whose parents were not educated.
Educated parents can better communicate with their children regarding the school work, activities and the information being taught at school.
They can better assist their children in their work and participate at school (Fantuzzo & Tighe, 2000; Trusty, 1999).
Theory of Educational Productivity by Walberg (1981) determined three groups of nine factors based on affective, cognitive and behavioral skills for optimization of learning that affect the quality of academic performance: Aptitude (ability, development and motivation); instruction
(amount and quality); environment (home, classroom, peers and television) (Roberts, 2007).
The home environment also affects the academic performance of students.
Educated parents can provide such an environment that suits best for academic success of their children. The school authorities can provide counseling and guidance to parents for creating positive home environment for improvement in students’ quality of work (Marzano,
2003). The academic performance of students heavily depends upon the parental involvement in their academic activities to attain the higher level of quality in academic success (Barnard, 2004; Henderson, 1988; Shumox
& Lomax, 2001).
There is a range of factors that affect on the quality of performance of students (Waters & Marzano, 2006). A series of variables are to be considered when to identify the affecting factors towards quality of academic success. Identifying the most contributing variables in quality of academic performance is a very complex and challenging job. The students in public schools belong to a variety of backgrounds depending upon their demography. This diversity is much vast and complex as ever before in Pakistani culture. Keeping in view all these discussions, researchers conducted this study to examine the effect of different factors on the students’ quality of academic achievement at the secondary school level in a metropolitan city of Pakistan.

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Journal of Quality and Technology Management

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The main objectives of the study were to:
a)
analyze the effect of socio-economic status, parental education and occupation on quality of students’ academic performance.
b)
explore the effect of socio-economic status on student’s achievements in the subjects of Mathematics and English.
c)
find the difference in quality of students’ achievement in relation to their gender.
Null Hypotheses:
a)

b)
c)

There is no significant effect of socio-economic status, parental education and occupation on quality of students’ academic performance. There is no significant effect of socio-economic status on student’s achievements in the subjects of Mathematics and English.
There is no significant difference in quality of students’ achievement in relation to their gender.

METHOD AND PROCEDURE
This descriptive study was conducted by using a survey method. The population was the secondary school male and female students from a metropolitan city of Pakistan. At the first stage twelve male and female public sector secondary schools (six each) were selected conveniently.
Secondly, only fifty volunteer students (25 male and 25 female) out of all volunteers from one section of the 10th grade were selected randomly from each of the 12 schools. Thus the sample size for the study was 600 students (300 male and 300 female). The study was delimited to only demographic factors such as students’ gender, parents’ education, parents’ occupation and socio economic status. The quality of academic performance was measured by their achievement scores of the 9th grade annual examination verified from the Board of Intermediate and
Secondary Education, Lahore and school records. Data regarding the variables such as parents’ education, parents’ occupation, SES, urban/ rural belongingness, and students’ gender were collected by using a questionnaire. |5

Factors Affecting Students’ Quality of Academic Performance: A Case of Secondary School Level

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATIONS
The collected data were analyzed by applying descriptive and inferential statistical measure. A t-test was used to compare the achievements of male and female students. The significant effect of different factors on students’ achievement was explored through multiple comparisons by applying ANOVA using SPSS 16.
Table 1: Effect of SES, Fathers’ and Mothers’ education & occupation on students’ achievement Source of Variation

Sum of
Squares

df

Mean
Square

F

Sig.

SES & Marks in 9th Grade

110977.403

2

55488.701

15.270

.000*

SES & Marks in Math

7254.485

2

3627.243

9.086

.000*

SES & Marks in English

9154.629

2

4577.314

14.896

.000*

191918.849

7

27416.978

7.576

.000*

191049.052

7

27292.722

7.831

.000*

23541.570

3

7847.190

2.072

.103

9088.016

3

3029.339

.795

.497

Father education & Marks in
9th Grade
Mother education & Marks in
9th Grade
Father occupation & Marks in
9th Grade
Mother occupation & Marks in 9th Grade
*Significant at the .05 level.

Table1 shows that socio-economic status (SES), fathers’ education, and mothers’ education, had a significant effect on students’ overall academic achievement as well as on Mathematics and English scores in 9th grade at the .05 level of significance. Further it is obvious that parental occupation had no significant effect on academic achievement. Hence the hypotheses that there are no significant effects of SES level and parental education level on students’ academic achievement have been rejected. Also the hypothesis that there is no significant effect in achievement on the basis of parental occupation was accepted. It is therefore concluded that SES level and parental education affect the achievement of their children, but the parents’ occupation had no effect.

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Journal of Quality and Technology Management

Table 2: Multiple comparison of effect of SES on Mathematics, English, and cumulative achievements
Dependent
Variable

Independent Variable

Std.
Error

Sig.

Average SES

-20.666(*)

6.869

.008*

High SES

-47.615(*)

8.679

.000*

Average SES

High SES

-26.949(*)

Low SES

Marks obtained in
9th Grade

Mean
Difference (I-J)

Average SES

(I)
Low SES

(J)

6.783

.000*

-4.589

2.277

.133

High SES

-12.009(*)

2.877

.000*

Average SES

High SES

-7.420(*)

2.248

.003*

Low SES

Average SES

-5.277(*)

1.997

.025*

High SES

-13.524(*)

2.524

.000*

High SES

-8.248(*)

1.972

.000*

Marks in
Mathematics

Marks in
English
Average SES
*Significant at the .05 level.

As shown in Table 2, comparison of effect of SES levels (Low, Average &
High) on students’ achievement scores in the subjects of Mathematics,
English & Cumulative achievement indicated that students belonging to high SES level overall perform better in the subjects of Mathematics and
English as well as show better performance in cumulative achievement scores. Average and high SES levels have more effect than low SES level in all types of achievement quality. The null hypothesis that there is no significant difference in academic performance of students due to their socio-economic status is therefore rejected. The students with high and average SES exhibit better quality of performance than the students with low level of SES.

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Factors Affecting Students’ Quality of Academic Performance: A Case of Secondary School Level

Table 3: Analysis of Fathers’ education and cumulative achievement
Dependent
Variable

(I) Father's
Education.

(J) Father's
Education

Illiterate

Primary

-1.311

13.558

1.000

-.993

13.161

1.000

Secondary

-12.399

10.049

1.000

Intermediary

-37.222(*)

10.905

.019*

Bachelor

-48.311(*)

11.494

.001*

Master

-37.897(*)

1.068

.019*

Elementary

.318

14.006

1.000

Secondary

-11.087

11.133

1.000

Intermediary

-35.911

11.912

.075

-47.000(*)

12.453

.005*

Master

-36.586

12.061

.07

Secondary

-11.405

10.646

1.000

Intermediary

-36.229(*)

11.458

.046*

Bachelor

-47.318(*)

12.020

.003*

Master

-36.904(*)

11.613

.044*

Intermediary

-24.823(*)

7.685

.037*

Bachelor

-35.913(*)

8.500

.001*

Master

-25.499(*)

7.914

.038*

-11.089

9.497

1.000

Master

Marks obtained in
9th Grade

Std.
Error

Elementary

Primary

Mean
Difference (I-J)

-.675

8.976

1.000

Master

10.414

9.684

1.000

Bachelor
Elementary

Secondary

Intermediary
Bachelor

Bachelor

Sig.

*Significant at the .05 level. (Bachelor= Bachelor degree/Graduation, Master= Master degree/
Post graduation)

The multiple comparisons in Table 3 show that fathers with Bachelor degree and Master degree education have more affects on students’ achievement than any other level of education (e.g., illiterate, secondary, intermediary). 8|

Journal of Quality and Technology Management

Table 4: Analysis of Mothers’ education and quality of academic performance
(overall marks obtained)
Dependent
Variable

(I) Mothers’
Education
Illiterate

(J) Mothers’
Mean
Std.
Sig.
Education
Difference (I-J)
Error
Primary
-16.271
9.394
13.22
Elementary
9.542
9.221
38.48
Secondary
-24.558(*)
7.807
-.05*
Intermediary
-30.025(*)
8.583
-3.08*
Bachelor
-57.799(*)
10.880
-23.65*
Master
-44.375
15.258
3.52
Primary
Elementary
25.813
9.744
56.40
Secondary
-8.287
8.419
18.14
Intermediary
-13.753
9.143
14.95
Bachelor
-41.528(*)
11.327
-5.97*
Marks
obtained in
Master
-28.103
15.580
20.80
9th Grade
Elementary
Secondary
-34.100(*)
8.225
-8.28*
Intermediary
-39.567(*)
8.965
-1.43*
Bachelor
-67.341(*)
11.184
-2.24*
Master
-53.917(*)
15.476
-5.34*
Secondary
Intermediary
-5.467
7.503
18.08
Bachelor
-33.241(*)
10.050
-1.70*
Master
-19.817
14.677
26.25
Intermediary Bachelor
-27.774
10.664
5.70
Master
-14.350
15.104
33.06
Bachelor
Master
13.424
16.518
65.27
*Significant at the .05 level. (Bachelor= Bachelor degree/Graduation, Master= Master degree/
Post graduation)

It is evident from Table 4 that mothers with Secondary, Intermediary, and
Bachelor degree-education levels have significant effects on the achievement of their children as compared to other education levels.
Table 5: Comparison of achievement for Male and Female students
Variable
Marks obtained in 9th
Grade
Marks in Mathematics

Gender

Male
Female
Male
Female
Marks in English
Male
Female
*P