School Students in Relation to Their Self-Confidence with Reference to Gender A Study of Academic Achievement among Senior Secondary

Abstract

The present study investigated the relationship between academic achievement and self-confidence among senior secondary school students with reference to gender. The objectives of the study were to compare the academic achievement and self-confidence of male and female students and to examine differences in academic achievement among students with different levels of self-confidence. The study adopted the descriptive survey method. The population comprised senior secondary school students studying in CBSE- and HBSE-affiliated schools in Haryana. A sample of 600 Class XI students (300 male and 300 female) was selected using stratified random sampling from 24 schools in the districts of Rewari, Rohtak, and Hisar. Academic achievement was measured through students' examination marks, while the Self-Confidence Scale developed by Gupta and Lakhani (2018) was used to assess self-confidence. The collected data were analyzed using Mean, Standard Deviation, Independent Samples t-test, One-Way ANOVA, and Tukey HSD Post Hoc Test. The findings revealed that female students performed significantly better than male students in both academic achievement and self-confidence. The results also showed that students with high self-confidence achieved significantly higher academic achievement than students with average and low self-confidence. The study established a significant positive relationship between self-confidence and academic achievement, indicating that students with greater self-confidence tend to perform better academically. The findings highlight the importance of confidence-building programmes, effective guidance services, and supportive classroom practices for enhancing students' academic performance and overall development.