ABSTRACT
The research study was aimed at investigating the effect of gender difference on academic performance of chemistry students in some selected secondary schools of Zaria Local Government Area of Kaduna State. Some schools within Zaria were chosen, 100 students (50 males, 50 females) were randomly selected from each school making a total of 100 students in all.
For the statistical analysis of the data, the mean performance of male students and the mean performance of the female students were calculated. The result showed that the male students performed better than female students in chemistry. The t-test was also used to see if there was any significant difference between the performance of male and female students. The results, showed that there was a significant different in their performance.
Based on the analysis of the data, various suggestions and recommendations were made for the improvement of the performance of both sexes in chemistry generally. It is hope that findings from this study would be of help to educational administrations, chemistry teachers, students of chemistry, parents, government and other science as a whole in Zaria Local government area of Kaduna state.
CHAPTER ONE
 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the study
Gender related disparities have characterized Nigeria education system at the national level, between and at regional level and at all levels of education from primary to university in favour of males. This has been in the form of better performance in favor of boys at all levels (UNESCO, 2003; Republic of Nigeria 2007; Mondoh and Mujidi, 2006). Over the years, the top one hundred candidates at national, provincial, county, district level has been dominated by male candidates. It’s only in a few districts where the performance has been in favour of girls’ (NECO,2011).
Academic performance or achievement is the mark and determinant of a student’s success (or lack of) and future. This is especially true in Nigeria and in the rest of the world especially developing countries that have adopted education as the main route to development. Academic achievement in chemistry or performance is the outcome of , the extent to which a student, teacher or institution has achieved their C goals. It is commonly measured by examinations or continuous assessment tests. In educational institutions, success is measured by academic performance, or how well a student meets standards set out by local government and the institution itself.
