Relationship between Self-Esteem and Academic Achievement of Senior Secondary School Students in North-Central, Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between self-esteem and academic achievement of senior secondary school students in North-Central, Nigeria. The research design adopted for the study was correlational design. A total of 101,467 Senior secondary school two (SS2) students comprises the population. Glenn (2012) sample scale was used in drawing the sample of 383 students. A Self-structured questionnaire was used to collect data from the respondents. The data collected was subjected to statistical analysis based on the three null hypotheses. A multiple correlation regression, an analysis of variance, t- test and Pearson correlation coefficient was used in analysing the hypotheses. The findings of the study revealed that, there exists significant relationship between students’ academic achievement and their self-esteem regardless of their gender; male or female in the secondary schools in North central, Nigeria. The study also shows there is no significant difference in self-esteem between male and female senior secondary school students. However, the study further discovered that, the student show significance difference in self-esteem with respect to age. It was recommended that; students should develop a strong sense of self-esteem from an early stage and maintain it throughout their academic journey. Also, parents and teachers should help train the students on how to develop positive views about themselves and their academic work and should always believe that they will perform well in their academic challenges irrespective of their gender. Nevertheless, a policy that mandates Nigeria Education Service to undertake a structured professional development programme for senior secondary school teachers should be instituted.