The Relationship between Attitude towards School and Academic Performance of Students in Congolese Higher Education: The Moderating Role of Marital Status

Abstract

Many studies in Congolese educational sector, have examined the experiences of undergraduate students with regard to attitude towards school and academic performance. However, much remains to be learned about the moderating role of marital status in the relationship between attitude towards school and student’s academic performance. This particular situation needs to be studied. This mixed research methods study includes collection and exploitation of two types of data (quantitative and qualitative). Data for quantitative analysis were collected by survey with 362 participants (including married and unmarried students) from the University of Kinshasa, whereas data for qualitative analysis were gathered from married (three males and three females) and unmarried (three males and three females) students using interviews and focus group discussion. The statistical analyses were made using mainly multiple regressions, the statistical testing of the generated hypothesis via t-test statistics and Pearson product-moment correlation, multivariate analysis of variance, and simple slope analyses. In light of Bandura’s social cognitive theory, the results of the study revealed that there is a significant correlation between attitude towards school and academic performance, and marital status moderated the relationship between attitudes towards school and academic performance. Unmarried students’ academic performance was higher than their married students’ counterpart in significant way. While I do not dispute this, I argue that the element of fulfillment, which the married and unmarried students in this study identified as being important to them, can be used to expand Bandura’s social cognitive theory.