AJSTME, Volume. 9, Issue 1. 27-32, April, 2023. https://www.ajstme.com.

ng
ISSN: 2251-0141 (Print), 2971-623 (Online)

Influence of Parental Socioeconomic Status on Academic Achievement of

Biology Students in Senior Secondary Schools in Enugu State

Odionye, Nonye & Ibeh, Faith C.

Department of Science Education, University of Nigeria, Nsukka
Corresponding author: [email protected]
Abstract
The study investigated the influence of parental socioeconomic status on academic achievement of senior
secondary Biology students. The research design was an ex-post factor design. The study sample comprised 333
senior secondary two Biology students,who were chosen at random.The instrument used for data collection was a
40-item multiple choice question titled Biology Achievement Test (BAT). Mean and standard deviation were the
statistical tool used for data analysis. Using analysis of variane(ANOVA) each hypothesis was tested at 0.5 level of
significance. The findings of the study revealed that there was a significant influence of parental educational
background on students’ academic achievement of SSII students in Bilogy while parental income, and parental
occupation did not have significant influence. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended among
others that Government should take on the responsibility of improving the adult literacy programmes to educate
and empower illiterate and semi-illiterate parents.
Keywords: Education, Academic Achievement and Student, Socio-economic Status

Introduction
Education is a cognizant and conscious cycle of the combining parents’ educational level, occupational
acquiring knowledge, skills, values and morals for status, and income level (Jeynes, 2012).
social growth and development. Education is a tool Socioeconomic status is categorised into three levels
that prepares individuals to be responsible and useful (high, middle, and low) to describe the three places &
in life (Ovansa, 2017). The responsibilty of training an family or an individual may fall into. The High ‘SES
individual always lies in the hands of their parents. are families with influence holding high positions and
Therefore if learners are to atain their full potential ranks in the nation, they are well educated possessing
from the education system, they need the full support various academicals, degrees and certificates. The
of their families (Gemechu, 2018). The family is the middle SES are families found between the high and
bedrock of informal education whereby the parents low SES, they are found in positions but in lower
lays the psychosocial moral and spiritual foundation in ranks, most of them are educated but usually with one
the development of the child. Families affect or two degrees. The low SES are families that are
children’s learning behaviours and academic ranked least in society. They are usually uneducated
achievement in major ways, as they are the primary with little or no position in the nation; they are usually
and most significant environments that children are petty traders and paid little or nothing.Children from
exposed to (Zhonglu & Zeqi, 2018). Parental low socio-economic status earn lower test scores and
involvement comes in diffeent forms such as good are more prone to drop out of school (Eamon, 2015,
parenting in the home, provision of a safe and stable Hochschild, 2013), because they develop academic
environment, intellectual stimulation, parent-child skills more slowly compared to children from higher
discussion, fulfilment and good citizenship, socio-economic status group (Ovansa,2017). This
participation in school events and governance and leads us to believe that the socioeconomic status of
communication with the school to share information ( families influences academic achievement in a certain
Miftahu & Melaiye, 2021).Their level of education, way.
occupation and wealth has a significant impact on the Academic achievement is a direct reflection of a
child's personality. student’s academic learning and mastery of
Socioeconomic status (SES) is a descriptive term used knowledge. Ezeaneche, (2016) described students'
to describe a person's work experience, economic academic achievement as the result acquired creditably
access to resources and education proficiency.It is or otherwise by students at both internal and external
commonly conceptualized as the social status or class examinations.It is knowledge gained which is assessed
of an individual or group (Ovensa, 2017). A child’s by marks graded by a teacher and or educational goals
socio-economic status is commonly determined by

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AJSTME, Volume. 9, Issue 1. 27-32, April, 2023. https://www.ajstme.com.ng
ISSN: 2251-0141 (Print), 2971-623 (Online)

set by students and teachers to be achieved over a as unqualified teachers, poor instructional materials,
specific period of time (Narad & Abdullah, 2016). poor infrastructure, poor health status, environmental
Research has shown that either all or one of the levels factors, and intellectual factors. Many research works
of socioeconomic status influences academic have been carried out to proffer solution to these
achievement. For example Abdu, Babakura & Tela factors yet the problem still persist. As a result the
(2020); Asiegbu & Ezeugbor, (2018); Esther, Ruffina purpose of this research is to determine if parental
& Anastecia (2018); Odemena, Chigoziri, Ejike, Dike socioeconomic status has an influence on academic
& Nnadozie (2013) in their study conculded that achievement of students in biology.
parents income, level of education and occupation
influence students academic achievement to a large Objectives
extent. This is contrary to Miftahu and Melaiye The specific objectives of this study were intended to:
(2021); and Salisu, Saleh, Yusuf & Nasiru (2021) who 1. Assess the influence of parents' educational
admits that parents' educational qualification does not background on the academic achievement of
affect their children achievement to an extent. In secondary school students in Biology
disagreement, Mudassir & Abubakar (2015) revealed 2. Determine the influence of parents’ income on
that parents educational qualification has effect on the the academic achievement of secondary school
children’s academic achievement. Gemechu (2018) students in Biology.
maintained that family income did not affect student’s 3. Examine the influence of parents’ occupation
academic achievement, but studies of Omoraka, 2001; on the academic achievement of secondary
Ovansa,2017; Esther, Ruffina & Anastecia,2018 and school students in Biology.
Salisu, Saleh, Yusuf & Nasiru, 2021 revealed that
parent income has a significant influence on student’s Methods
academic achievement. On the part of parental This present research was carried out using ex-post
occupations there has been inconsistency in results factor design .The target population consisted of 2691
such as Rajitha, 2013; Owuor, Shah & Hussain, 2021; SS2 Biology students. The sample used for the study
Simatwa & Ndolo,2022, who in their various studies was 333 SS2 students. SS2 students were used because
revealed that parental occupation has influence on there seems to be scarcity of studies on the topic in the
academic achievement of students but Ngare, Tikoko area. The sample size was drawn from 32 schools
& Sigei (2016),revealed that parental occupation did using a simple random sampling technique by
not affect student achievement. balloting. The second stage was the selection of about
It is therefore against this background that the present 30 students from each of the 11 schools selected using
study attempts to explore the influence of parental an accidental sampling technique. The instrument used
socioeconomic status viz, parental education, monthly for data collection was a Biology Achievement Test
income and parental occupation on the academic (BAT). The BAT comprised 40 multiple-choice
performance of senior secondary students in Nsukka questions that assessed student achievement in
LGA in Enugu State. Biology. The instrument had two sections: Section A
which seeks parental information such as the student’s
Statement of the Problem parental academic background, income and
Biology is one of the largest and most important occupation.Section B comprised 40 multiple-choice
branches of science apart from Physics and Chemistry. questions with four options A, B,C, and D. The
It is a vast subject containing many subdivision topics maximum mark obtained in the BAT was 40 while the
and disciplines, its usefulness is crucial in sciences, minimum was zero. To asses the reliability of Kudder-
agriculture, arts, technological activities, commerce, Richardson(KR-20) analysis, apilot study was done on
economics, education and humanities as it concerns 30 students who represented the population
living things and their relationship with the characteristics but did not form the sample.The
environment. Unfortunately, according to the Chief estimate of the internal consistency obtained was 0.90.
Examiner's Report from West Africa Examination This shows the instrument was fit for use. Mean and
Council (WAEC), National Examination Council standard deviation was used to answer the research
(NECO) from the year 2014-2018, reported 70% questions. The hypotheses were tested using Analysis
failure of students in biology. Many factors have been of Variance(ANOVA) at 0.05% level of significance.
attributed to the poor performances of students, such

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AJSTME, Volume. 9, Issue 1. 27-32, April, 2023. https://www.ajstme.com.ng
ISSN: 2251-0141 (Print), 2971-623 (Online)

Results whose parents had School Cert. the mean was 23.30
The findings of the study are presented in the tables with a standard deviation of 2.30. For students whose
below (Table 1 to 7) parents had OND/NCE, the mean was 27.74 with a
standard deviation of 2.11. For students whose parents
Table 1: Mean and Standard Deviation had HND/Degree, the mean achievement score of the
Achievement Score of Students Based on their students was 31.27 with a standard deviation of 2.47
Parental Educational Qualifications while students whose parents had Masters/Ph.D
Qualification N Mean SD obtained a mean of 35.43with a standard deviation of
FSLC 32 18.31 1.75 0.73. The group of students whose parents hold FSLC
School Cert 96 23.30 2.30 had the least mean academic achievement in Biology
OND/NCE 100 27.74 2.11 while the group with Masters/Ph.D had the highest
HND/Degree 82 31.27 2.47 mean achievement in Biology. To determine whether
Masters/Ph.D 23 35.43 0.73 qualification could be a significant factor in students’
Table 1 shows a mean achievement score of 18.31and academic achievement in Biology, a hypothesis was
a standard deviation of 1.75 for students whose parents tested.
had FSLC as their highest qualifications. For those
Table 2: Analysis of Variance in the Mean Performance Scores of Students Based on Parental Qualification
Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
Between Groups 6912.22 4 1728.06 367.08 0.01
Within Groups 1544.10 328 4.71
Total 8456.32 332.
Analysis of variance in Table 2 shows that there was a probability level (0.05) stated for testing the
significant difference among the means achievement hypothesis. Hence, the null hypothesis was therefore
score in Biology for students whose parents had FSLC, rejected. This implies that qualification has a
School Cert., OND/NCE, HND/Degree, and significant influence on the academic achievement of
Masters/Ph.D (F(4,328)=367.08, p=<0.05). The students in Biology. To determine the direction of the
associated probability level (0.01) is below the a priori difference, a Post Hoc test was performed.
Table 3: Tukey Test for Direction of the Significance
(I) Qualification (J) Qualification Mean Difference (I-J) Std. Error Sig.
FSLC School Cert -4.98958* 0.44 0.00
OND/NCE -9.42750* 0.44 0.00
HND/Degree -12.95579* 0.45 0.00
Masters/Ph.D -17.12228* 0.59 0.00
School Cert FSLC 4.98958* 0.44 0.00
OND/NCE -4.43792* 0.31 0.00
HND/Degree -7.96621* 0.33 0.00
Masters/Ph.D -12.13270* 0.50 0.00
OND/NCE FSLC 9.42750* 0.44 0.00
School Cert 4.43792* 0.31 0.00
HND/Degree -3.52829* 0.32 0.00
Masters/Ph.D -7.69478* 0.50 0.00
HND/Degree FSLC 12.95579* 0.45 0.00
School Cert 7.96621* 0.33 0.00
OND/NCE 3.52829* 0.32 0.00
Masters/Ph.D -4.16649* 0.51 0.00
Masters/Ph.D FSLC 17.12228* 0.59 0.00

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ISSN: 2251-0141 (Print), 2971-623 (Online)

School Cert 12.13270* 0.50 0.00

OND/NCE 7.69478* 0.50 0.00
HND/Degree 4.16649* 0.51 0.00
* The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level.

Turkey test on Table 3 showed statistical differences Table 5: Analysis of Variance in the Mean
between the means performance score of Biology Performance Scores of Students Based on Parental
students whose parents hold FSLC and School Economic Status
Cert(Mean difference=4.98958,P=0.00<0.05),FSLC Sum of Df Mean F Sig.
and OND/NCE (Mean difference=-9.42750, Squares Square
P=0.00<0.05), FSLC and HND/Degree (Mean Between Groups 96.61 3 32.20 1.27 0.29
difference=-12.95579, P=0.00<0.05), and FSLC and Within Groups 8359.72 329 25.41
Masters/Ph.D (Mean difference= -17.12228, Total 8456.32 332
P=0.00<0.05). Significant difference was also obtained
between means performance for School Cert and Analysis of variance in Table 5 found that there was a
HND/Degree ( Mean difference =- 4.43792, significant difference among the means achievement
P=0.00<0.05),School Cert and HND/ Degree (Mean score in Biology for students based on the level of
difference=-7. 96621, P=0.00<0.05), School Cert and their parental income F(3,332)=1.27, p=0.29). The
Masters/Ph.D (Mean difference= -12.13270, associated probability level (0.29) was above the a
P=0.00<0.05). Significant difference also occurred priori probability level (0.05) stated for testing the
between OND/NCE and HND/Degree (Mean hypothesis. Hence, the null hypothesis is not rejected.
difference=3.52829, P=0.00<0.05), and OND/NCE This implies that economic status has no significant
and Masters/PH.D (Mean difference=-7.69478, influence on the academic performance of students in
P=0.00<0.05). Biology.

Table 4: Mean and Standard Deviation Table 6: Mean and Standard Deviation
Performance Scores of Students Based on their Performance Scores of Students Based on their
Parental Economic Status Parental Occupation
Parental Income in Naira N Mean SD Parental Occupation N Mean SD
Less than N20,0000 43 25.72 6.83 Farmer 8 27.20 5.18
Between N20,000- N40,000 117 27.23 5.20 Trader 157 26.62 5.05
Between N41,000- N60,000 140 26.92 4.57 Artisan 33 26.73 4.89
Between N61,000- N150,000 24 27.83 3.14 Civil/Public Servant 138 30.36 5.05
Above N1500,000 9 26.67 5.78 Table 6 shows that students whose parents are farmers
had a mean achievement of 27.20 and a standard
Table 4 shows that students whose parental income
deviation of 5.18, for Traders, the mean was 26.62
was less than N20, 0000 had a mean achievement
with a standard deviation of 5.05, for Artisans, the
score of 25.72 with a standard deviation of 6.83, for
mean was 26.73 with a standard deviation of 4.89, and
those whose parental income was Between N20, 000-
for Civil/Public Servant, the mean was 30.36 and
N40, 000; their mean achievement was 27.23 with a
standard deviation of 5.05. Students whose parents are
standard deviation of 5.20. on the other hand, students
Civil/Public Servants had the highest mean
whose parental income was Between N41,000-
achievement scores (30.36) while those whose parents
N60,000 had a mean achievement of 26.92 with a
are Traders had the lowest mean achievement (26.62).
standard deviation of 4.12, Similarly, the group with
Therefore it appears occupation was not a significant
parental income Between N61,000- N150,000 had a
factor in students’ academic achievement.
mean of 27.83 while those with parental income
Above N1500,000 had the mean achievement of
26.67and standard deviation of 5.78.

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ISSN: 2251-0141 (Print), 2971-623 (Online)

Table 7: Analysis of Variance in the Mean Yusuf & Nasiru, 2021. Their studies revealed that
Performance Scores of Students Based on Parental parent income influences students’academic
Occupation performance.
Sum of Df Mean F Sig. Finally the result of the study revealed that parental
Squares Square occupation has no significant influence on academic
Between Groups 113.85 3 37.95 1.50 0.22 achievement of secondary school Biology students.
Within Groups 8342.47 329 25.36 That is, parental occupation type cannot be relied upon
Total 8456.32 332 to predict student academic achievement. This could
be as a result of the parents either in high or low
Analysis of variance in Table 7 shows that there was earning occupation trying their best to provide the
no significant difference among the mean achievement educational needs of the children so that it does not
score in Biology for students based on the level of affect their input in their academics. The result of this
their parental occupation F(3,329)=1.50, p=0.22). The study is in agreementwith Ngare, Tikoko & Sigei
associated probability level (0.22) is above the a priori (2016), but in disagreement with studies from Rajitha,
probability level (0.05) stated for testing the 2013; Owuor, Shah & Hussain, 2021; Simatwa &
hypothesis. Hence, the null hypothesis is not Ndolo, 2022, who in their various studies revealed that
rejected.This implies that parental occupation has no parental occupation has an influence on academic
significant influence on the academic achievement of achievement of students.
students in Biology.
Conclusion
Discussion The study concluded that parental education
The discussion was based on the major findings of this qualification significantly influenced academic
research achievenment of SS II Biology students, while
In this study, it was found that the qualification of parental income and occupation had no significant
parents had an influence on the academic achievement influence.
of the student. That is, the more educated the parents
the greater their encouragement in their child's Recommendations
education. This maybe as a result of parents with a The following recommendations were made
higher level of education putting in more interest and 1. Government and educational stakeholders
effort by personally giving the child extra tutoring or should endeavour to provide students with
by engaging teachers, also by providing all the scholarships, free teaching and writing
necessary learning materials and environment. Parents materials build good infrastructure such as
with lower qualification maybe more interested in Libraries, laboratories, ultra-modern
making money than in education. This has a way of classroomsand offices etc.
influencing the child’s academic achievement in 2. Government should embark on the
school. This finding is in agreement with Mudassir and responsibility of improving the adult literacy
Abubakar (2015), but in disagreement with Miftahu programmes to educate and empower illiterate
and Melaiye (2021) and semi-illiterate parents.
The findings also revealed that parental income had
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